Chapter 2: The First Crack
A screen lowered from behind the velvet curtains.
The guests turned in confusion.
Celeste whispered, “Adrian, what are you doing?”
He did not answer her.
The screen flickered to life.
An old security video appeared.
The image was grainy, filmed from the east hallway of the Blackwood mansion twelve years earlier. Adrian’s mother, Evelyn, stood near the staircase in a pale blue robe. She looked weak but alive.
Then Marianne appeared.
A gasp moved through the room.
On the screen, Marianne stepped close to Evelyn. Their voices were faint, but the subtitles beneath the footage made every word clear.
“You should have stayed quiet,” Marianne said in the video.
Evelyn’s face was pale.
“You poisoned Charles against me. You stole my letters. You made my son believe I was losing my mind.”
Marianne smiled.
“Your son will believe whatever I teach him to believe.”
Celeste’s glass trembled in her hand.
The video continued.
Evelyn tried to walk away.
Marianne grabbed her arm.
The screen went black before the fall.
But the silence after it was worse than the image itself.
One of the older board members stood up.
“My God…”
Marianne rose slowly, her expression frozen.
“This is disgusting. A fake video. A cruel trick.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I thought you’d say that.”
He pressed the remote again.
This time, an audio recording filled the room.
Marianne’s voice.
Clear.
Cold.
Unmistakable.
“Evelyn should have died sooner. If she had, none of this would have taken so long.”
May you like
Celeste turned white.
The engagement ring box sat unopened between them like a coffin.
