Chapter 2 - The VideoThe police moved quickly.
One officer stepped between Victor and me while the other ordered everyone to put their hands where he could see them.
Victor immediately changed.
His rage disappeared.
His shoulders dropped.
His voice softened.
"I can explain."
Alex laughed once.
There was nothing funny about it.
"You can explain to the detectives."
Victor looked at me.
"You know this isn't what it looks like."
I stared at him.
Blood was still dripping from my forehead.
"My baby almost died."
Victor swallowed.
"We didn't hurt you."
Helena interrupted.
"She fell."
The officer looked at the wooden stick.
Then at my bruised thigh.
"She fell onto a stick?"
Helena went silent.
Raul looked toward the floor.
Nora stood frozen beside the table.
Alex noticed her immediately.
"You were recording."
Nora said nothing.
"Give the phone to the officer."
Victor stepped forward.
"Nora, don't."
Alex turned.
"Don't what?"
Victor said nothing.
The officer took Nora's phone.
He checked the screen.
Then paused.
"There is video footage."
My stomach tightened.
"What kind?"
The officer didn't answer immediately.
He looked at me.
"Mrs. Hale, we're going to preserve it as evidence."
I closed my eyes.
I already knew.
The video had captured everything.
The insults.
The fall.
The stick.
Helena telling Victor to hit me again.
My attempt to reach the phone.
Victor destroying it.
And the moment I lost consciousness.
The ambulance arrived six minutes later.
I remember the ceiling moving above me.
Alex walking beside the stretcher.
"Stay with me."
I tried to answer.
Nothing came out.
One paramedic placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Can you tell me your name?"
I did.
"How many months pregnant are you?"
"Six."
"Do you know where you are?"
"My house."
The paramedic looked at Alex.
"Did someone assault her?"
Alex answered.
"Her husband."
My eyes filled with tears.
The paramedic nodded.
"We've got her."
Then the world faded again.
When I woke up, there was a bright white ceiling above me.
Machines beeped beside the bed.
My first thought was my baby.
"Baby?"
A nurse appeared immediately.
"Your baby has a heartbeat."
I cried.
Not quietly.
Not gracefully.
I sobbed.
The nurse squeezed my hand.
"You're both being monitored."
"Is she safe?"
The nurse hesitated.
"She?"
I looked at her.
"My daughter."
The nurse smiled faintly.
"Then your little girl is fighting."
A tiny laugh escaped me.
My daughter.
I had known in my heart for weeks.
Now someone had said it aloud.
My daughter was alive.
But the relief lasted only seconds.
Because the police officer entered.
"Mrs. Hale, I'm Detective Morgan."
I stared at him.
"Did you arrest Victor?"
"We arrested him."
"And his family?"
"Not yet."
My heart sank.
Detective Morgan sat down.
"The video is serious."
I looked toward the door.
"So are they."
He nodded.
"There is another issue."
"What?"
He placed a clear evidence bag on the table.
Inside was Nora's phone.
"We found additional recordings."
My skin prickled.
"Additional?"
"Several."
"Of what?"
"Your husband."
My breathing stopped.
Detective Morgan continued.
"Some were made before today."
He unlocked his tablet.
"We believe your husband has been recording you for months."
My stomach turned.
"Why?"
Detective Morgan looked at me.
"We don't know yet."
He played the first clip.
It was inside our bedroom.
I was asleep.
Victor was standing over the bed.
He was speaking to someone off camera.
"I can make her disappear."
My blood ran cold.
The second clip was worse.
Victor was talking to Raul.
"We just need her to look unstable."
Raul answered.
"How?"
Victor smiled.
"We already started."
I looked at the detective.
"What does that mean?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he played another file.
This one was dated five months earlier.
Victor's voice filled the room.
"When she has the baby, she'll have nowhere to go."
I covered my mouth.
Detective Morgan paused the video.
"We need to ask you something very important."
"What?"
"Did you ever believe your husband was trying to make people think you were mentally unstable?"
I thought of the missing money.
The fake messages.
The arguments I supposedly started.
The doctor's appointment Victor had canceled without telling me.
The pills he insisted I needed when I wasn't sick.
The way he constantly told everyone I was becoming paranoid.
Suddenly, pieces of my life began sliding into place.
"Oh my God."
Detective Morgan leaned forward.
"You've been set up."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
Before he could answer, someone ran into the hallway.
A nurse shouted.
Then came Alex's voice.
"Detective!"
We both turned.
Alex entered the room.
His face was pale.
He held a sheet of paper.
"They found something in Victor's car."
Detective Morgan took it.
He read it.
His expression changed.
"What?"
Alex looked at me.
"They weren't planning to wait until after the baby was born."
He handed Detective Morgan the paper.
"Victor had an appointment scheduled for tomorrow."
I stared.
"An appointment for what?"
Alex swallowed.
"A private clinic."
My blood ran cold.
"For what?"
May you like
He looked directly at me.
"Termination."
