Chapter 2 - The Erased Evidence
Daniel froze completely, his fake tears vanishing in a fraction of a second.
He stared at Detective Harris with a look of pure, unadulterated panic.
“That is completely absurd and impossible,” Daniel stammered, nervously adjusting his expensive silk tie.
“My personal assistant handles all of my corporate purchases and credit accounts.”
He was already throwing Olivia under the bus to save his own miserable skin.
“We will definitely need to speak with her as well,” Harris replied smoothly.
“In the meantime, I need to take your cellular phone into evidence, Mr. Mercer.”
Daniel’s face turned the sickening color of wet ash.
He knew the bedroom security camera application was still open on his device.
“I left my phone locked in my car downstairs,” Daniel lied without missing a single beat.
Harris stared him down for a long, uncomfortable moment before giving a short nod.
“I will have a uniformed officer escort you to your vehicle to retrieve it immediately.”
As Daniel and the detective stepped out into the hallway, I pulled my phone back out from under the blanket.
I needed to download the security footage of Daniel and Olivia laughing before he realized his mistake.
I tapped the recording icon on the camera application with my trembling left thumb.
A bright red error message suddenly flashed across my cracked screen.
“Connection Lost: Device and History Deleted by Administrator.”
Daniel had used the brief walk to the elevator to remotely wipe the entire home security system.
My only piece of undeniable proof was now completely gone forever.
A wave of sheer, suffocating panic washed over my broken body.
I was trapped in a hospital bed with a shattered wrist and a husband who wanted me dead.
I closed my eyes and tried to force my traumatized brain to work through the heavy fog of pain.
Then, a sudden, brilliant memory pierced through the darkness of my despair.
When I installed the bedroom camera, Evelyn had demanded I sync it exclusively to the home server.
But I had secretly linked the backup video feed to a hidden cloud drive under my maiden name.
I quickly opened my web browser and typed in the old, forgotten password.
The loading circle spun on the screen for what felt like an absolute eternity.
The digital folder finally opened, revealing dozens of securely saved video files.
The footage of them laughing in my bed was safely stored in the encrypted cloud.
But there was another folder I had never seen before, titled “Financial Restructuring.”
I clicked on it quickly, my heart hammering furiously against my bruised ribs.
It contained a digital copy of a massive life insurance policy in my exact name.
The total payout amount was twenty million dollars.
The sole primary beneficiary was listed as Daniel Mercer.
And the policy had a special clause that doubled the payout in the event of an accidental death at home.
The date on the electronic signature was yesterday afternoon.
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Suddenly, a cold, dark shadow fell across my hospital bed.
I looked up to see Evelyn standing in the doorway, holding a bouquet of dead black roses.
