Chapter 1 - The Digital Witness
My hands were shaking uncontrollably as I pulled the phone from my pocket.
The hospital corridor was freezing, but cold sweat dripped down my spine.
I completely ignored Brandon's screaming and Evelyn's fake, theatrical tears.
I needed proof, and I needed it right now before they convinced the police I was a monster.
I opened the security application for our smart home cameras.
The screen slowly loaded the dining room feed from the previous afternoon.
I scrolled back to the exact time I had gone upstairs to take a quick shower.
The high-definition footage showed my mother-in-law sitting at the dining table with Nancy.
Nancy was giggling and kicking her little feet under the wooden chair.
Evelyn pulled a small, silver tin from her expensive designer purse.
She opened the lid and handed my daughter a handful of tiny, shiny silver beads.
"Eat them quickly before your mother comes down," Evelyn whispered on the audio playback.
My heart completely stopped beating in my chest.
She had intentionally told my innocent five-year-old that the deadly magnets were magical candy.
I watched in horror as my daughter swallowed them one by one with a glass of water.
But that wasn't even the most terrifying part of the video.
In the background of the footage, a man walked casually into our kitchen.
It was my husband, Brandon.
He wasn't on a business trip in Phoenix like he had told me.
He stood there leaning against the counter, watching his own mother feed our daughter the magnets.
He was holding a digital stopwatch in his right hand.
"Hurry up, the new life insurance policy clears at midnight," Brandon said coldly in the video.
I gasped aloud, realizing the two people I trusted most had planned to murder my child for money.
I turned around to shout for the police officers standing down the hall.
Before I could even open my mouth, a heavy hand violently snatched the phone from my grip.
Brandon glared down at me with eyes as black as coal.
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He lifted his foot and stomped on my phone, crushing the screen into a million pieces.
"Officer," Brandon yelled down the hallway, "my wife is having another violent psychotic break!"
