Chapter 3 - THE SECRET BEHIND THE HOUSE
Callan refused to explain over text.
He wanted to meet.
I agreed only after Detective Bennett told me she could arrange a monitored conversation.
The meeting took place at a quiet attorney's office.
Callan entered wearing a medical bandage.
For the first time since the incident, he looked less like the powerful Harrington heir and more like the man I had married.
He sat across from me.
"I'm sorry."
I said nothing.
He looked down.
"I shouldn't have hit you."
"No."
"I lost control."
"You chose to hit me."
His face tightened.
"You're right."
I had waited days to hear those words.
They didn't make me feel better.
"What happened after?"
He looked toward the attorney.
"My mother came to the hospital."
"What did she say?"
"She told me you had attacked me."
"Did you believe her?"
He hesitated.
"I didn't know what to believe."
"You saw what happened."
"I remember the argument."
"You remember hitting me."
His eyes lowered.
"Yes."
Silence.
Then he said:
"I didn't see the pan clearly."
I stared at him.
"It happened after you hit me."
"I know."
"Then tell the truth."
"I will."
"Now."
He looked at me.
"My mother doesn't want the video released."
My heart sank.
"Why?"
"Because she knows it proves you didn't attack me deliberately."
"That's it?"
Callan shook his head.
"No."
He leaned closer.
"There's another reason."
"What?"
"My mother has been using that camera for years."
I frowned.
"For security?"
"No."
He looked ashamed.
"She records conversations."
I stared.
"What?"
"Private meetings. Family arguments. Business discussions."
"Why?"
"Leverage."
The word sat heavily between us.
Callan explained that Melissa had built a private archive of recordings.
Politicians.
Business partners.
Family members.
Anyone who might someday become a problem.
She called it insurance.
I called it blackmail.
"Why would she record her own family?"
"Because she trusts no one."
I remembered the red light.
"What else does she have?"
Callan looked at me.
"Enough to ruin people."
"Why is she so afraid of my footage?"
He hesitated.
"Because your recording may contain something else."
"What?"
"I don't know."
He wasn't telling me everything.
I could see it.
"What are you hiding?"
"Nothing."
"Callan."
He looked away.
"My mother has been trying to force me into a business arrangement."
"What kind?"
"She wants me to sign over controlling interest in one of my companies."
I stared.
"Why?"
"Because she's afraid I'll leave the family."
"And marry me?"
He nodded.
I finally understood.
My marriage hadn't merely offended Melissa's pride.
It threatened her control.
My family was outside her circle.
I had become a person she couldn't manipulate.
And Callan had chosen me.
That made me dangerous.
Later that afternoon, Detective Bennett called.
"We recovered part of the backup."
My heart jumped.
"Does it show what happened?"
"Yes."
"Can I see it?"
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because there's something else on the recording."
I sat down.
"What?"
"Your mother-in-law wasn't in the kitchen when the camera started."
"What does that mean?"
"The recording begins earlier."
"How much earlier?"
"About forty minutes."
"And?"
"Someone entered the kitchen before lunch."
"Who?"
Detective Bennett paused.
"Brooklyn."
My stomach tightened.
"What was she doing?"
"That's what we're trying to determine."
That evening, the police showed me a still image.
Brooklyn stood beside the kitchen counter.
She was holding something small.
A bottle.
I stared at it.
"What is that?"
"We don't know yet."
The detective zoomed in.
Brooklyn appeared to glance toward the camera.
Then she smiled.
I felt cold.
"She knew it was there."
"Apparently."
Then the detective showed me another frame.
Brooklyn was holding my grandmother's bracelet.
The bracelet she had taken from my bedroom.
The one she claimed she had never touched.
I stared at the image.
"She lied."
Detective Bennett nodded.
"And that's only the beginning."
She placed another document in front of me.
It was a property record.
The Harrington house wasn't entirely owned by Melissa.
Part of it belonged to Callan.
Another portion belonged to a family trust.
And the trustee was...
Brooklyn.
I looked up.
"Why?"
"Because your husband transferred his interest two years ago."
I felt sick.
"Why would he do that?"
Detective Bennett looked at me.
"That's what we're trying to find out."
That night, I called Callan.
"You transferred part of the house to Brooklyn."
Silence.
"Who told you?"
"The police."
He sighed.
"Anastasia..."
"Why?"
"My mother pressured me."
"Why?"
"Because she said Brooklyn needed security."
I closed my eyes.
"You've been lying to me."
"I was afraid."
"Of your mother?"
"Yes."
I almost laughed.
"You watched her humiliate me."
"I know."
"You let her treat me like I wasn't good enough."
"I know."
"And now you want me to believe you were afraid?"
He didn't answer.
Then he whispered:
"My mother has something on me."
"What?"
Another silence.
"She knows what happened to my father."
I froze.
"Your father died when you were twelve."
"That's what everyone believes."
My breath caught.
"Callan..."
"He didn't die the way they told us."
The line went silent.
May you like
Then he said:
"That's why my mother must control everyone."
