Chapter 9 - The Clause
Victoria denied everything.
She said the trust papers proved nothing.
She said Graham had access to every legal file in the house.
She said Richard was grieving, paranoid, and desperate to blame someone for being an absent father.
That last part hurt because it contained truth.
He had been absent.
He had trusted systems, employees, and money to create safety while he traveled.
Maya had needed him to notice fear.
He had noticed schedules.
Richard spent the morning beside his daughter while detectives copied files from Graham’s office.
Maya stacked wooden blocks on the rug.
Whenever a woman in heels passed the hall, she froze.
Richard finally understood how many times her body had been telling him the truth.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Maya looked up. “Daddy sad?”
“Daddy should have listened sooner.”
She climbed into his lap.
That almost broke him.
At noon, Daniel returned with news.
“We recovered deleted access logs. Someone entered the nursery camera system seventeen times in the last six months.”
“Victoria?”
“Her remote was used nine times. Graham’s administrator account was used eight.”
Richard looked toward the window.
“Can we recover the missing video?”
“Maybe. The system backs up fragments to a local maintenance server.”
“How long?”
“We’re working on it.”
A detective entered behind him holding a clear evidence bag.
Inside was a small bottle from Victoria’s dressing room.
“What is that?” Richard asked.
“Children’s sleep aid,” the detective said. “Prescription.”
Richard frowned. “Maya doesn’t have a prescription.”
“No. But the name on the label is Maya Sterling.”
Richard’s blood ran cold.
The detective continued.
“The prescribing doctor says he never wrote it.”
Then Daniel’s laptop chimed.
A recovered video fragment had finished processing.
The screen showed the nursery.
May you like
Victoria entered carrying Maya.
Then Graham Pike stepped in behind her and locked the door.
