Chapter 3 - What the Other Videos ShowedConrad waited until Wren fell asleep before watching the other recordings in full.
He hated himself for waiting six weeks to see what had already happened in his own home.
Of course, he hadn’t known they existed.
That explanation did not make the feeling disappear.
Marisol sat across from him at the kitchen table.
“I should have sent them.”
“Yes.”
She flinched.
Conrad regretted the sharpness.
But he did not withdraw it.
“You should have.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Marisol looked toward the ceiling.
Toward Wren’s room.
“The first time, I wasn’t sure what I had.”
Conrad pressed play.
Six weeks ago.
Wren and Maureen near the laundry room.
Wren asking about Celeste.
Maureen warning her that her father would stop believing her.
Marisol said:
“I thought I needed proof.”
“You had video.”
“It didn’t show Maureen hitting her.”
“Abuse doesn’t begin at hitting.”
“I know that now.”
Conrad looked at her.
Marisol cried quietly.
“The second time, Wren begged me not to tell.”
The video began.
Maureen held Wren’s Carson Ridge drawing.
Wren said:
“Mom said it’s mine.”
Maureen tore it.
“You don’t understand property.”
“I understand Mom.”
Maureen’s face hardened.
“Your mother thought she understood everything too.”
Conrad stopped the video.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
Marisol whispered:
“But I remembered it.”
The third video was worse emotionally.
Not physically.
Wren had opened a drawer in Conrad’s study.
Maureen caught her.
Wren cried.
“I saw Daddy’s name.”
Maureen responded:
“You saw nothing.”
“I’m telling him.”
“No.”
“He believes me.”
Maureen leaned close.
“Your father believes adults who make his life easier.”
Conrad’s stomach twisted.
That sentence felt aimed at him too.
Then Maureen said:
“Your mother learned too late that asking the wrong questions makes a family miserable.”
Wren whispered:
“My mom wasn’t miserable.”
Maureen’s expression changed.
“You don’t know what your mother was.”
Conrad stopped the recording.
His eyes burned.
Elise had hated Maureen near the end.
He remembered that now.
Not always.
For years Elise had accepted Maureen as part of Conrad’s family history.
Then something changed during the final year of Elise’s life.
She began saying:
“She has too much access.”
Conrad thought grief and illness had made Elise more private.
Maureen handled household staff.
Schedules.
Wren’s school pickups.
Travel packing.
Bills.
Elise began restricting her.
Conrad remembered an argument.
Elise:
“I don’t want Maureen in my study anymore.”
Conrad:
“She’s worked for my family since I was twelve.”
Elise:
“That isn’t an answer.”
He had defended Maureen.
The memory made him sick.
“Marisol.”
“Yes?”
“Did Elise ever speak to you about Maureen?”
Marisol hesitated.
“Once.”
Conrad sat forward.
“When?”
“About three months before Mrs. Vale died.”
“What did she say?”
“She asked whether I had ever seen Maureen take papers from the study.”
Conrad went still.
“What did you say?”
“No.”
“Had you?”
“Not then.”
Marisol looked ashamed.
“I thought it was about household bills.”
“Did Elise say why?”
“No.”
“She said, ‘If you ever see Maureen and Celeste handling Wren’s things together, tell Conrad directly.’”
Conrad closed his eyes.
Elise had named Celeste.
His wife had seen something.
And he had never known.
“Why didn’t you tell me this after Elise died?”
“I forgot.”
Conrad looked at her.
Marisol immediately corrected herself.
“No.”
She swallowed.
“I decided it didn’t matter anymore.”
“Different.”
“Yes.”
Marisol wiped her face.
“I’m sorry.”
Conrad stood.
He walked toward his study.
The door had a keypad lock now.
He changed the code after Elise died.
Maureen knew it.
Celeste did too.
Of course they did.
He opened the lower drawer Wren had mentioned.
Tax folders.
Property files.
Nothing obvious.
Then he noticed the bottom lining had been lifted.
Beneath it:
A white envelope.
SUMMIT AXIS
Inside were printed drafts of the Carson Ridge option agreement.
And a payment schedule.
Conrad read.
At closing:
High Mesa Advisory LLC — $1,250,000 consulting fee
He had never heard of High Mesa Advisory.
Another line:
Household transition / caretaker retirement — $105,000
No name.
But the wording made his stomach turn.
Maureen had asked:
And mine?
Conrad took photographs.
Then called Maya.
“Can you find High Mesa?”
“I can search corporate records.”
She called back twelve minutes later.
“Registered eighteen months ago.”
“Owner?”
“Hidden through a registered agent.”
“Can we determine beneficial ownership?”
“Possibly through records in litigation or investigation. But there’s something else.”
“What?”
“The mailing address on its state business filing.”
Conrad waited.
Maya gave him the address.
He knew it.
Northstar Industrial Systems.
Executive suite.
The office used by Celeste Vale.
Conrad sat slowly.
His sister was not simply processing a sale.
She appeared to be positioned to receive $1.25 million if Wren’s property sold below its apparent market value.
Then Conrad noticed one more page in the envelope.
A handwritten note.
Celeste’s writing.
He had seen it his whole life.
W saw us. M says she can keep her quiet.
Conrad’s vision narrowed.
W.
Wren.
M.
Maureen.
Six weeks ago.
The same date as Marisol’s first video.
For the first time, Conrad understood the timeline.
Wren saw Celeste preparing the deal.
May you like
Maureen promised to silence her.
And the abuse had escalated every time Wren kept remembering.
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