My hands shook as the files loaded on my screen. I clicked on the most recent video file.
The screen flickered to life. The angle was low, looking up at the center of the nursery.
There it was. Evelyn, standing in the middle of the room, looking down at Chloe. Chloe holding a small sippy cup. Evelyn snatching the cup away, yelling. Chloe crying. And then, clear as day, Evelyn raising her hand and striking the child across the face, her heavy diamond ring and long nails catching the girl’s cheek.
Then I saw myself on screen, bursting through the door, scooping Chloe up, and shouting at Evelyn. I watched Evelyn turn toward the door, her face contorted in rage.
But as the video continued playing after we ran out of the room, something else happened.
Evelyn didn’t chase us immediately. The video showed her stopping. She pulled her phone from her pocket and made a call, holding it to her ear as she paced in front of the hidden camera.
The audio was crystal clear.
“He’s coming home early,” Evelyn hissed into the phone. “The nanny just found the insurance papers in the safe. Yes, the ten million. I’m going to have to do it today. No, not the husband, you idiot. The brat. I’ll say the nanny snapped and beat the kid, and I had to defend her. If the kid is dead, the policy pays out immediately, and Marcus will throw his fortune at me out of grief. I’ll make sure the nanny takes the fall.”
My breath hitched in my throat. I felt physically sick. She hadn’t just lost her temper. She was actively trying to murder Chloe today, and I had walked in right as she was setting the stage. She was going to beat Chloe to death with the golf club and blame me.
I pulled the SD card out of my phone and closed my fist around it.
I turned around to leave the nursery.
Evelyn was standing in the doorway.
She had slipped away from the police. Her makeup was still artfully smeared, but the crying victim was gone. The look on her face was cold, flat, and completely devoid of humanity.
She heard the soft click of the SD card reader. She looked at my closed fist.
“You little rat,” Evelyn whispered. She stepped into the nursery and locked the heavy door behind her with a loud click.
Chapter 3: The Proof
The lock clicking echoed in the quiet nursery like a gunshot.
I backed up, pressing my good shoulder against the wall, but I had nowhere to go. Evelyn was blocking the only exit.
“What do you have in your hand, Maya?” Evelyn asked. Her voice was terrifyingly calm now, devoid of the hysterical act she was putting on for the police.
“You know what I have,” I said, keeping my fist clenched tight. “It’s over, Evelyn. The police are fifty feet away. If you touch me, you’re going to prison for a very long time.”
Evelyn let out a sharp, mocking laugh. “Prison? Darling, please. I’m the wife of a billionaire. Do you know how many lawyers Marcus has? Do you know what kind of legal defense my new last name buys? I’m going to tell them you ran in here to destroy evidence. I’m going to tell them you cornered me. Who are they going to believe?”
She took a slow step forward. “You’re just the help. You’re disposable. Now give me whatever you just took from that wall.”