Chapter 5 - Before Nine O'Clock
Daniel found seventeen recordings.
Some were only seconds long.
Others lasted nearly a minute.
That was enough.
In one clip, Vanessa mocked Sofía for walking too slowly.
In another, she ordered María not to help the girl find a misplaced sweater.
In another, she told Sofía that crying made her father ashamed.
Roberto listened without speaking.
The final recording was three weeks old.
Vanessa’s voice sounded almost bored.
“Your father has an empire to run.”
Sofía answered quietly.
“I know.”
“He doesn’t have time to hear about every little problem.”
“I know.”
“So when he asks if everything is good, what do you say?”
Sofía paused.
“Everything is good.”
“Again.”
“Everything is good.”
“Good girl.”
Roberto removed the headphones.
His hands trembled.
Daniel looked away.
There were moments in business when anger could be useful.
It could sharpen judgment.
It could make negotiation precise.
This anger was different.
This anger wanted destruction.
Roberto knew he could not allow it to control him.
He called his attorney instead.
“Ethan.”
A sleepy voice answered.
“It’s almost ten.”
“I need you at my house.”
“Tonight?”
“Tonight.”
“What happened?”
Roberto looked at the frozen audio waveform on the monitor.
“Something I should have discovered months ago.”
Vanessa was waiting in the library when he returned.
She had changed tactics.
The anger was gone.
Now she looked wounded.
“Roberto, please.”
He did not sit.
“I loved your daughter.”
“You controlled her.”
“I was trying to make her stronger.”
“You frightened her into silence.”
“She is fragile because everyone treats her like a victim.”
“She is seven.”
“She needs resilience.”
“She needed kindness.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
“You have no idea how hard I tried.”
Roberto almost laughed.
“You’re right.”
He pointed toward the security room.
“I had no idea.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
“What did Daniel find?”
Enough fear appeared in her voice to answer his question.
“You know exactly what he found.”
Vanessa stepped backward.
Then she suddenly looked toward the stairs.
Roberto moved between her and the hallway.
“You will not go near Sofía.”
“I need to explain things to her.”
“You will never explain anything to her without me present again.”
Vanessa stared.
“You’re choosing a servant’s version of events over mine.”
Roberto’s expression turned cold.
“I’m choosing my daughter.”
A car approached outside.
Headlights moved across the windows.
Ethan Cole, Roberto’s longtime attorney, stepped from the vehicle.
Vanessa watched him enter.
Her fear deepened.
Roberto saw it.
And that was when he realized there might be more at stake than cruelty.
May you like
Vanessa was not only afraid of being exposed.
She was afraid of what they might find next.
