Chapter 1: The Man Behind the Camera
The hospital room was silent except for the steady rhythm of the heart monitor.
My mother finally slept peacefully.
Elena sat beside the window with fresh stitches above her eyebrow, staring into the darkness outside.
I opened my laptop.
The encrypted archive loaded exactly as I had designed it years ago.
One hundred and twelve days of recordings.
I skipped to the week after I had left for Saudi Arabia.
At first, everything seemed ordinary.
Vanessa smiled while helping my mother into bed.
She prepared meals.
She even kissed my mother on the forehead whenever visitors stopped by.
The perfect daughter-in-law.
Then the front door opened.
A man walked inside using his own key.
I leaned closer to the screen.
Forty-five years old.
Expensive suit.
Silver watch.
Confident smile.
I had never seen him before.
Vanessa hugged him.
Not like friends.
Not like business partners.
She kissed him.
Then she handed him a folder.
He opened it.
Inside were copies of every financial document I owned.
Property deeds.
Investment accounts.
Life insurance policies.
The man smiled.
"Another few months," he said.
"Once Daniel signs the power of attorney, everything belongs to us."
Vanessa laughed.
"He trusts me completely."
My hands clenched into fists.
But what happened next shocked me even more.
The man walked into my mother's bedroom.
He looked directly at her.
"If you tell your son anything," he whispered, "you'll never see another sunrise."
My mother began crying.
He smiled.
Then he walked away.
I paused the video.
There was no doubt anymore.
Vanessa hadn't simply abused my mother.
She had planned everything with someone else.
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The only question left was...
Who was he?
