Chapter 15 - The Face on the Screen
The screen buzzed against the floorboards like an angry hornet.
Emily stared at the glowing device, every instinct screaming at her to smash it beneath her boot.
Instead, Daniel dragged himself upright against the wall, his breathing ragged and uneven.
"Answer it, Emily," Daniel whispered, his voice dark with a fury she had never heard in him before.
"Let her see that she failed."
Emily stepped forward, picked up the encrypted phone, and swiped her thumb across the glass.
The video connected instantly.
Evelyn Vance’s face filled the screen, framed by the cold cinderblock walls and harsh fluorescent lights of the detention visiting booth.
She wore an orange jumpsuit, but her chin remained tilted upward in that familiar, suffocating arrogance.
"Victoria?" Evelyn began smoothly, adjusting her posture. "Have you secured the child?"
Emily held the phone directly in front of her face, letting her cold, unblinking glare meet her mother-in-law's eyes.
"Sophie is playing with her toys, Evelyn," Emily said, her voice dropping to a calm, terrifying chill.
Evelyn’s aristocratic composure fractured for a fraction of a second, her pupils dilating in shock.
"You," Evelyn hissed through the receiver, her lip curling in disgust. "Where is my sister?"
"Running away like a beaten dog," Emily answered, stepping closer so Evelyn could see the wreckage of the hallway behind her.
"Just like you ran after you threw my child into that filthy pond."
"You arrogant little nobody," Evelyn spat, her manicured composure completely evaporating into venomous rage.
"You think because you had a few cameras running at a resort that you’ve won? You are an insect in our world!"
Daniel moved into the frame, leaning over Emily’s shoulder so his bruised, bloody face filled half the screen.
"Mother," Daniel said, his voice flat, emotionless, and colder than ice.
Evelyn froze, her eyes locking onto her son’s bloodstained forehead.
"Daniel?" she gasped, momentarily disoriented. "What did she do to you? Look at yourself!"
"You tried to kill my daughter for money, Mother," Daniel said, each word landing like a lead weight.
"I didn't kill anyone!" Evelyn shrieked, leaning closer to the glass partition in the prison booth.
"Everything I did was to preserve our legacy! To ensure our bloodline remained unbroken and wealthy!"
"You poisoned my father," Daniel stated bluntly, refusing to break eye contact.
Evelyn went dead silent on the screen.
The color completely drained from her face, leaving her looking haggard, old, and decrepit under the prison lights.
"Your father was weak," Evelyn whispered after a long, suffocating pause. "Just like you."
"The Zurich accounts are being frozen as we speak," Daniel informed her calmly.
"I turned state’s evidence thirty minutes ago. I signed the full disclosure affidavits with the federal prosecutor."
Evelyn’s mouth opened, but no sound came out.
"Every shell company, every hidden trust, every offshore bribe you ever paid—I gave them the ledger father left behind."
"You fool!" Evelyn screamed, pounding her fists against the visitor table. "You destroyed your own inheritance!"
"I don't want your cursed money," Daniel said, his voice steady and resolute.
"And you will die in that concrete cell, Mother. Alone, penniless, and forgotten."
"Daniel! You listen to me—"
Emily didn't let her finish.
She pressed the red button, cutting the call off mid-sentence and ending the broadcast forever.
She tossed the phone onto the floor and crushed the screen beneath the heel of her boot until the glass splintered into dust.
Outside, blue and red flashing lights flooded through the shattered front door as three police cruisers screeched to a halt in the driveway.
Daniel looked at Emily, his eyes pleading for forgiveness he knew he didn't deserve.
"I gave up everything, Emily," he said softly, clutching his bruised side. "The entire Vance fortune is gone."
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Emily looked at the shattered house, then back at the closet where her daughter sat safely unharmed.
"Good," Emily said quietly. "Now we can finally find out who you really are."
