Chapter 4 - The Missing Video
Nicole had deleted the video in the kitchen, but she had bragged about streaming it to a group chat.
Deleting a recording from one device did not erase the people who might have received it.
That was the first hopeful thought I had allowed myself since the kitchen floor.
The next was that my bruises had been documented.
A nurse named Patrice explained the hospital's forensic exam process and asked whether I wanted an advocate present.
I said yes.
For the first time in two years, nobody treated my consent as a personal insult.
Alex called the county victim-services office while I spoke to an advocate about emergency housing, the protective-order process, and safe ways to keep records.
I had no access to our joint savings, no car keys, and no idea whether Trent had changed the passwords again.
The advocate did not promise a quick solution.
She helped me make a plan for the next twenty-four hours instead.
That felt possible.
Nicole began posting vague accusations before noon.
She claimed I had staged a fall to destroy a hardworking family, and a handful of her friends repeated it eagerly.
Alex showed me only after asking permission.
I read one sentence about a “dramatic wife” and handed the phone back.
“I need the full posts saved,” I said.
“But I don't need to see them.” A digital-evidence specialist requested that everyone preserve their original messages.
Later that afternoon a woman named Mallory Price called the hospital's victim advocate.
She had been part of Nicole's group chat.
She said she wanted to send a copy of the video, but only if nobody told Nicole who had done it.
The advocate explained that confidentiality could not be guaranteed if the recording became evidence.
Mallory went quiet, then answered, “If that's what it takes.” When the video arrived, I couldn't watch it.
Alex watched the first few seconds with Ellis and returned looking sick.
“It shows enough,” he said.
I asked whether it showed Helen laughing.
“Yes.” I asked whether it showed Trent lifting the stick.
“Yes.” I asked whether it showed me begging him to stop.
Alex touched the edge of the chair.
“Every word.” For the first time, the truth existed somewhere beyond my own body.
Then Ellis received a second message from Mallory.
Nicole had told the group to delete everything because “the lawyer says the insurance claim is at risk.” I looked at my brother.
May you like
“What insurance claim?”
