Chapter 2: I Have Photos
Lily's voice was barely above a whisper.
But every word landed like a stone.
"This isn't the first time.
She does it when he cries too long.
She grabs his arm and squeezes until he goes quiet."
The room went completely still.
I looked down at Ethan.
He had buried his face against my chest.
He wasn't reaching toward Serena.
He wasn't even looking at her.
A fourteen-month-old boy.
And he already knew who to be afraid of.
"That is a lie," Serena said.
Her voice was calm.
Almost bored.
"I have never once —"
"I have photos."
Lily's hands were shaking as she pulled out her phone.
She turned the screen toward me.
Three photos.
Timestamped.
Ethan's arm.
The bruising.
Different days.
She had been collecting evidence for weeks.
Too frightened to show anyone.
Too frightened to leave him alone with Serena.
Too frightened to stay silent anymore.
"You took these," I said quietly.
Lily nodded.
Tears running down her face.
"I didn't know what to do.
She told me if I said anything, she'd have me deported."
Behind me, I heard Serena set down her glass.
Very carefully.
Very deliberately.
"Victor," she said.
"Let's not do something we can't take back."
I turned around slowly.
"That's exactly what I'm going to do."
---
What Victor did next — and what Serena had been hiding long before that night — is in the full story.
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