She approached the girl.
There was no sound in the recording, but the body language spoke clearly.
Sofia shook her head.
Vanessa picked up the vase.
She placed it closer to the edge of the table.
She said something.
The girl looked scared.
And then—
A sudden movement.
The vase fell.
But it hadn’t been an accident.
The final frame before it shattered on the floor clearly showed Vanessa’s hand pushing it.
Nathan stepped back as if he’d been struck.
But what came next was worse.
He scrolled further back through the recordings.
Days.
Then weeks.
What he saw broke something inside him.
Sofia kneeling on the floor cleaning while Vanessa pointed at her harshly.
Sofia sitting alone at the table while Vanessa removed her plate before she finished eating.
Sofia locked inside her room.
Sofia crying quietly.
Scene after scene.
Always when he wasn’t home.
Always when there were no visitors.
Always far away from the smiling photographs and social events.
Nathan felt sick.
He remembered every gala where Vanessa had stood beside him, smiling for cameras, talking about their perfect life and their beautiful family.
He remembered how he had dismissed Sofia’s occasional sadness as “just a phase.”