The Video They Tried to Erase
Chapter 02 - The Video They Tried to Erase
Ethan abandoned the gala and ordered the manor’s security chief to retrieve the study footage. Vanessa immediately claimed the camera had been disconnected during renovations. Margaret urged him to return to the ballroom before investors began asking questions.
But Ethan had already seen fear cross Vanessa’s face.
The security file was missing from the main system. A technician found signs that someone had deleted it eight minutes after Isabella left the study. Fortunately, Blackwood Manor stored an automatic backup on an off-site server.
The recovered video began without sound.
Isabella entered carrying her phone and the bank statement. Vanessa followed, locked the door, and demanded the flash drive. When Isabella refused, Vanessa grabbed her wrist. A struggle followed. Vanessa tore the phone from Isabella’s hand, struck her across the face with a jeweled ring, and then arranged the room to make herself look like the victim.
Margaret appeared seconds later.
Instead of helping Isabella, she picked up the phone and handed it to Vanessa.
The ballroom watched the footage on the presentation screen. No one spoke when Ethan turned toward his mother.
Margaret said she had protected the company. The merger would collapse if Isabella’s accusations became public, and thousands of employees could lose their jobs. Vanessa insisted the transfers were temporary loans that would be repaid after the deal.
Ethan demanded Isabella’s phone.
Vanessa claimed she had thrown it away, but the security chief traced its last signal to a locked office beneath the ballroom. Inside, police found the phone, shredded documents, and a second flash drive containing forged board approvals.
The missing foundation money totaled twelve million dollars.
Vanessa had used part of it to cover failed investments. Margaret had authorized the transfers to prevent a scandal and planned to replace the money with merger profits. Isabella discovered the scheme when a children’s clinic funded by the foundation suddenly lost its grant.
Ethan called Isabella repeatedly, but every call went directly to voicemail. He sent messages. None were delivered.
At two in the morning, he drove through the rain to the apartment where Isabella’s sister lived. The lights were off, and no one answered.
A courier arrived instead.
The envelope carried Isabella’s signature.
Inside were divorce papers, her resignation from the foundation board, and one handwritten sentence:
May you like
You believed the woman who hurt me because believing me would have cost you more.
Ethan stood alone beneath the streetlight, holding the truth he had refused when it was placed in his hand.
