Chapter 10: The Recording That Was Never Real
The voice coming from Victoria’s phone did not sound like me.
Not because it wasn’t my voice.
It was.
But the words felt impossible.
“I hate my dad.””
The sentence hung in the air.
My father stared at the phone.
Aunt Rachel looked at me.
And I felt like the entire room had shifted beneath my feet.
Victoria watched every reaction.
She had been waiting for this moment.
For years.
“You see?”” she whispered.
Dad’s eyes moved toward her.
“What is this?””
She lowered the phone.
“A recording.””
“Of what?””
“Emma telling the truth.””
My heart started racing.
“No.””
Victoria looked at me.
“You don’t remember?””
“I never said that.””
Her smile was small.
“Of course you don’t.””
She pressed play again.
The recording continued.
A child’s voice cried.
“I don’t want him to come back.””
My stomach twisted.
I remembered crying as a child.
I remembered feeling lonely.
But I didn’t remember saying those words.
Dad looked devastated.
“Emma…”
I stepped forward.
“Dad, I don’t know what that is.””
Victoria immediately interrupted.
“She’s scared now because she knows she’s been caught.””
“No.””
My voice shook.
“But that isn’t the whole story.””
Dad looked at me.
And for a second, I saw the same fear I had seen years ago.
The fear that maybe I was telling the truth.
The fear that maybe I wasn’t.
I hated that Victoria could still do this.
Even after everything.
Even after all the evidence.
She still knew exactly where to hurt us.
Aunt Rachel took the phone from Victoria’s hand.
“May I?””
Victoria smiled.
“Go ahead.””
Rachel listened carefully.
Once.
Then again.
Then a third time.
Her expression changed.
“This is edited.””
Victoria laughed.
“Really?””
“Yes.””
“That’s convenient.””
Rachel held the phone closer.
“The background noise changes.””
Nobody spoke.
She looked at my father.
“Listen.””
She played it again.
“This part.””
The child’s voice said:
“I hate my dad…”
Then there was a pause.
A strange gap.
Rachel pointed at the phone.
“The room sound disappears.””
Dad frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“It means this was cut.””
Victoria’s face changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
Fear.
Again.
“No one is going to believe you.””
Rachel looked at her.
“You really thought nobody would check?””
Victoria crossed her arms.
“You’re guessing.””
“No.””
Rachel reached into her bag.
“I brought someone who can answer that.””
Everyone turned.
She looked toward the entrance.
A man walked inside.
He carried a laptop.
My father recognized him.
“You?””
The man nodded.
“Daniel.””
I looked between them.
“Who is he?””
Dad answered quietly.
“A friend.””
The man sat down.
“I work in digital evidence analysis.””
Victoria’s face lost color.
“No.””
The man opened the laptop.
“I examined the audio file.””
My father stared.
“You already knew about this?””
Rachel nodded.
“I asked him to check before we came.””
The man turned the screen around.
“The recording was created from multiple clips.””
Victoria immediately stood.
“This is ridiculous.””
The man continued.
“The original audio dates don’t match.””
Silence.
Dad looked at Victoria.
“You created this.””
She shook her head.
“No.””
But nobody believed her anymore.
Not even Brandon.
He had stayed silent through everything.
Now he looked at his mother like he was seeing a stranger.
“Mom.””
She turned.
“Don’t.””
His voice cracked.
“Did you fake it?””
Victoria looked away.
That was the answer.
My father closed his eyes.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then he stood.
“We’re done.””
Victoria laughed.
A broken, angry laugh.
“No.””
Dad looked at her.
“Yes.””
“You think this ends because you found a few papers?””
She stepped closer.
“You don’t understand what I sacrificed.””
My father’s expression hardened.
“You sacrificed my daughter’s childhood.””
The words destroyed the last piece of control she had.
She grabbed her purse.
“You’ll regret this.””
Nobody answered.
She walked toward the door.
Then stopped.
She looked back at me.
“You think you won?””
I didn’t say anything.
Because I realized something.
I wasn’t trying to win anymore.
I was trying to heal.
Victoria smiled.
“You still don’t know everything.””
My heart tightened.
“What does that mean?””
She looked at my father.
Then back at me.
“Ask him.””
My father frowned.
“Ask me what?””
Victoria opened the door.
“Ask him why he never told you the truth about your mother’s final day.””
Then she left.
The room went silent.
Slowly…
Everyone looked at my father.
Including me.
“Dad?””
He didn’t answer.
And that scared me more than anything Victoria had said.
May you like
Because for the first time…
My father looked guilty.