Chapter 7 - The Investigator
The answer arrived the following day.
Eleanor had hired a private investigator to look into Sophia.
Not because Sophia had done anything wrong.
Because Eleanor wanted something she could use against her.
The investigator's report contained mundane details.
Trips to the grocery store.
Pediatric appointments.
A coffee with a friend.
Visits from Sophia's father.
Nothing suspicious.
Nothing scandalous.
Nothing useful.
So Eleanor had apparently stopped paying.
But one detail caught Lucas's attention.
The investigator had photographed Eleanor herself meeting someone outside a bank.
Michael placed the photograph on the table.
“Recognize him?”
Lucas studied the man.
“No.”
Sophia did.
“I do.”
Lucas looked at her.
“Who?”
“He came to the house.”
“When?”
“About a month ago.”
“Why?”
“Your mother said he was helping with family paperwork.”
Michael's expression sharpened.
“What kind?”
“I don't know.”
The man's identity led investigators toward another piece of the puzzle.
He was not an attorney.
He was a financial consultant who had previously done business with Audrey.
That connection mattered.
Records showed discussions about loans.
The house itself had not legally become theirs.
But Eleanor and Audrey appeared to have been exploring whether perceived access to family assets could help Audrey solve serious financial problems.
The amounts surprised Lucas.
His sister was deeply in debt.
Much deeper than he knew.
When confronted with the records, Audrey's confidence reportedly disappeared.
She began distancing herself from Eleanor.
Eleanor, in turn, blamed Audrey.
Their alliance began cracking almost immediately.
Sophia listened to the update from her hospital room.
“They're blaming each other?”
Michael nodded.
“That appears to be happening.”
Lucas shook his head.
“They were inseparable yesterday.”
“Pressure changes relationships.”
Sophia looked toward the window.
“Fear does too.”
Lucas knew she wasn't talking about Eleanor and Audrey anymore.
He sat beside her.
Doctors expected Leo to recover fully.
Sophia's physical injuries would heal.
But Lucas understood that recovery was not a switch.
It would be a road.
That afternoon, he walked with Sophia through the hospital corridor.
She moved slowly.
Lucas carried Leo.
At one point Sophia stopped.
“What?”
She looked at her son.
“I thought I was going to lose him.”
Lucas swallowed.
“So did I.”
“And I thought you were never coming home.”
He stepped closer.
“I did.”
She nodded.
“I know.”
Then she rested her head against his shoulder.
Neither spoke.
They didn't need to.
That night, Michael called again.
Audrey wanted to cooperate.
Lucas felt no satisfaction.
“What does she want?”
“Protection for herself, mostly.”
“Of course.”
“But she's offering information.”
“What kind?”
“Information about your mother.”
Lucas looked at Sophia sleeping nearby.
“Is it credible?”
“We don't know yet.”
“What is she claiming?”
Michael paused.
“She says Eleanor deliberately prevented Sophia from leaving the house.”
Lucas closed his eyes.
He already knew that.
Then Michael continued.
“And she says she can prove it.”
Lucas opened his eyes.
“How?”
“There was another camera.”
Not the nursery camera.
Not a security system Lucas knew about.
A small camera Audrey herself had installed.
She had apparently wanted to monitor Eleanor.
Instead, she had unknowingly recorded evidence of what happened to Sophia.
Michael's voice became quieter.
“If the footage is intact, Lucas, it may show exactly who did what.”
Lucas stared through the hospital-room window.
May you like
His mother had spent days insisting Sophia was lying.
Now her own daughter might possess the recording that ended that argument forever.
