Chapter 2: One Hundred and Twelve Days of Truth
Chapter 2: One Hundred and Twelve Days of Truth
The timeline loaded one day at a time.
At first, Daniel hoped the violence he had witnessed was an isolated incident.
It wasn't.
The footage revealed a nightmare that had unfolded while he worked thousands of miles away.
Every morning, Vanessa wheeled his mother into a small guest room upstairs and locked the door from the outside.
She rationed her food.
She hid her medication.
She mocked her whenever she cried.
"Maybe if you die, Daniel will finally stop wasting money on you," Vanessa said in one recording.
Daniel's stomach turned.
Then Elena appeared.
Every afternoon, after Vanessa left for shopping, lunch, or the gym, Elena quietly unlocked the room with a spare key she had secretly copied.
She brought fresh water.
She slipped medicine into his mother's hands.
She helped her bathe.
She even read aloud from Daniel's favorite books to keep her spirits alive.
Again and again, Elena risked losing her job.
Again and again, Vanessa caught her.
The videos grew worse.
There were insults.
Threats.
Slaps.
One afternoon, Vanessa grabbed Elena by the hair and shoved her against the kitchen counter.
"If you ever tell Daniel," she hissed, "I'll make sure nobody hires you again."
Daniel clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.
Then he reached the recording from the day before he came home.
Vanessa opened the blue sewing box inside his mother's closet.
She removed several envelopes filled with cash.
His mother cried.
"That's Daniel's emergency money..."
Vanessa smiled.
"It belongs to me now."
Daniel immediately called his attorney.
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"I want a divorce," he said.
"And I have enough evidence to bury her."
