Chapter 5 - THE VIDEOAt 8:04 the next morning, Marcus received the footage.
Claire watched it once.
Then again.
Then a third time.
Ethan walked behind Lily.
He looked around.
Reached into his jacket.
Slipped the watch into her purse.
Clear.
Deliberate.
Unmistakable.
But another detail appeared.
Before Ethan planted the watch, he looked toward someone off camera.
Marcus enlarged the image reflected in a ballroom mirror.
Richard.
Their father.
Watching.
Claire’s stomach turned.
“My father knew.”
Marcus remained silent.
Claire stared at the frozen image.
“Why would they do this?”
Marcus clicked forward.
Another camera showed Ethan meeting Richard near a service hallway thirty minutes before the accusation.
No audio.
But Richard handed Ethan something.
A photograph.
Marcus zoomed in.
Claire recognized it.
Lily.
Leaving school.
Taken from across the street.
May you like
This wasn’t about a watch.
Someone had been watching her daughter.
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