CHAPTER 3 — THE FOOTAGE GRANT THOUGHT WAS GONE
Grant Whitaker didn't remember leaving the restaurant.
One moment, dozens of strangers were filming him.
The next, he was sitting alone inside his luxury SUV, gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles had turned white.
His phone wouldn't stop vibrating.
Board members.
Investors.
Reporters.
His assistant.
Even his mother.
He ignored every call.
Only one thought echoed through his mind.
How did they get those photos?
Madison climbed into the passenger seat.
"This isn't over," she whispered.
Grant nodded.
"It ends tonight."
He started the engine.
"We'll erase whatever they have."
At Mercy General Hospital, Emma slowly opened her eyes.
The room smelled of antiseptic and fresh linen.
Machines beeped softly beside her.
Her body ached in ways she had never imagined possible.
The first face she saw was Caleb's.
"You scared us," he said quietly.
Emma tried to speak.
Instead, tears slipped down her cheeks.
"My baby..."
Caleb smiled for the first time in hours.
"A fighter."
"Just like her mother."
Dr. Lillian Mercer entered the room.
"The delivery was difficult," she explained gently.
"But your daughter is breathing on her own."
Emma covered her mouth.
"Can I see her?"
"Soon."
"But first..."
The doctor placed a sealed envelope on the bedside table.
"This was delivered by hospital security."
Emma frowned.
There was no return address.
Inside...
A tiny memory card.
Along with a handwritten note.
He forgot about the kitchen camera.
Emma looked at her brothers.
No one spoke.
Dylan quietly took the memory card.
"I'll check it."
Thirty minutes later...
The four of them stood inside the hospital's family conference room.
A laptop glowed in the darkness.
Dylan inserted the memory card.
The recording began.
The timestamp showed exactly forty-two minutes before Emma collapsed.
Grant appeared on the screen.
He wasn't alone.
Madison stood beside him.
She laughed while pouring herself a glass of champagne.
Grant removed his wedding ring.
"I won't need this much longer."
Madison smirked.
"What about Emma?"
Grant shrugged.
"The doctor already warned her about stress."
"If something happens naturally..."
He paused.
"...no one can blame me."
Emma stopped breathing.
Caleb clenched both fists.
The video continued.
Grant walked toward the front door.
Instead of leaving...
He deliberately locked the deadbolt from the outside.
Then he looked directly toward the hallway.
"I turned off the cameras, right?"
Madison laughed.
"You missed one."
Grant smiled confidently.
"No."
"I checked."
The screen froze.
Silence filled the room.
Dylan slowly removed the memory card.
"He checked every camera..."
"...except the old backup camera installed by Dad fifteen years ago."
Luke looked at Emma.
"This isn't just divorce anymore."
"It's attempted murder."
Emma closed her eyes.
For the first time...
She wasn't crying because she had lost her husband.
She was mourning the man she thought he had been.
Across town...
Grant and Madison entered his penthouse.
Grant immediately grabbed his laptop.
"Delete every security backup."
His fingers froze.
The cloud server was already empty.
Every file...
Copied.
Downloaded.
Transferred.
A single message appeared across the monitor.
Evidence secured.
Too late.
Grant suddenly realized...
Someone else had been inside his system.
May you like
And whoever it was...
Knew everything.
