Chapter 1: The Camera No One Remembered
Chapter 1: The Camera No One Remembered
The villa descended into panic.
Guests rushed toward the pool as Daniel Carter laid his unconscious wife, Emily, on the warm stone beside the water. Her soaked dress clung to her growing baby bump while he desperately checked for a pulse.
"Emily... stay with me. Please."
Their six-year-old son, Noah, clutched his father's arm, crying uncontrollably.
"I saw her, Daddy! Aunt Vanessa pushed Mommy!"
Vanessa let out a mocking laugh.
"He's a child. He imagined it."
Several guests exchanged uncertain glances. No one had actually seen the shove. They had only heard the splash.
Then Emily coughed.
Water spilled from her mouth as paramedics arrived. She opened her eyes just long enough to whisper,
"Protect... the baby..."
Daniel's face turned pale.
The ambulance rushed her toward the city's private medical center.
Vanessa folded her arms confidently.
"No witnesses. No proof."
Daniel slowly stood.
His expensive suit was soaked, but his voice was colder than the water.
"You've known me for ten years."
"You think I would buy a twenty-million-dollar villa without security cameras?"
Vanessa's smile froze.
Daniel looked toward the estate manager.
"Lock every exit."
"No one leaves."
Within minutes, security technicians accessed the hidden surveillance system.
One by one, large monitors illuminated the terrace.
There it was.
Emily standing peacefully beside the pool.
Vanessa looking over both shoulders.
Her hands suddenly thrusting forward.
Emily losing her balance.
The deliberate shove.
The horrifying splash.
Silence swallowed the garden.
Even the birds seemed to stop singing.
Vanessa stumbled backward.
"I... I didn't mean..."
Daniel interrupted.
"You meant every second."
Then he delivered the sentence that made every guest shiver.
"Enjoy this villa for the last time today."
May you like
"Tomorrow..."
"You'll have nothing left."
