Chapter 2 – The Mask Falls
Chapter 2 – The Mask Falls
Claire stepped backward.
"Ethan...she edited it."
"No."
"She's trying to destroy our marriage."
Ethan didn't answer.
He pressed play again.
Another file.
Claire laughing with a friend on the phone.
"The old woman is too scared to fight back."
"She apologizes even when I yell at her."
"I practically own this house."
Margaret quietly closed her eyes.
She had recorded everything after a visiting nurse suggested keeping evidence.
Not out of revenge.
Out of fear.
Ethan slowly looked around the living room.
The bruises he had dismissed.
The broken dishes Claire always blamed on his mother.
The sudden weight loss.
The silence.
Every memory rearranged itself into one terrible truth.
Claire reached for his arm.
"I can explain."
He stepped away.
"No."
"You've been explaining for three years."
"I've just been listening to the wrong person."
Police officers entered the house moments later after a neighbor reported the disturbance.
The responding officer listened to the recordings.
Then looked directly at Claire.
"Ma'am..."
"Please turn around."
Handcuffs clicked shut.
Claire stared at Ethan.
"You can't let them arrest me!"
He looked at his injured mother sitting quietly on the sofa.
May you like
"I should have protected her long ago."
Those were the last words he spoke to Claire before she was taken away.
