Chapter 7 - The Crumbling Dynasty
The dining room descended into chaos.
"Turn it off! Turn it off right now!" Lauren shrieked, lunging toward the TV to yank the power cord from the wall.
"Don't touch it!" David roared, standing up so violently his chair tipped backward.
I had never seen David angry. He was always the composed, aristocratic gentleman. But right now, his veins were bulging against his neck, his face red with raw disgust. He looked at Lauren as if she were a venomous insect.
"You told me she had a tantrum," David said, his voice trembling with rage. "You told me you gave her a time-out. You poured chemical bleach on a child's hands and forced her to crawl in broken glass?!"
"David, please, she provoked me! She was disrespectful!" Lauren pleaded, tears of panic finally breaking through her eyes. She reached for his arm, but David recoiled violently, slapping her hand away.
"Get away from me," he spat.
"David, please, think about our family! Think about the wedding!" Eleanor cried out, her hands fluttering in frantic desperation. "This is an internal family matter! Sarah is doing this out of jealousy because she's a single mother and Lauren is successful!"
I stood up, sliding the leather portfolio forward. I unzipped it and pulled out three thick stacks of paper.
"This is the official forensic medical report from the pediatric ER," I announced, laying the documents on the table. "Chemical burns. Embedded glass. Nerve trauma to Grace's fingers. And here," I pointed to the printed screenshots, "are the text messages where you three conspired to cover it up, bragging about how you witnessed the whole thing."
Richard sank into a chair, burying his face in his hands. "My God... Sarah, what have you done?"
"What have *I* done?" I asked, my voice deadly level. "I protected my daughter. You three tortured her."
"I’ll sue you!" Lauren screamed, her composure entirely obliterated. "I’ll sue you for recording me without my permission! That footage is illegal! You're going to prison for wiretapping!"
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I smiled at her. "Oakridge is a one-party consent state for security cameras on private property, Lauren. It’s my house. My cameras. My daughter. And the police don't consider evidence of felony child abuse to be inadmissible."
Lauren’s eyes blew wide. "The... the police?"
