Chapter 2: The Camera Nobody Knew About
My father stood in the doorway holding his work bag.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
The rain outside seemed louder.
Claire released my wrist immediately.
Her face changed so quickly it almost scared me more than what she had done.
The frightened woman disappeared.
The loving wife returned.
“Thomas,” she said softly.
My father looked from her to me.
Then to the cellar door.
His eyes narrowed.
“What’s going on?””
Claire opened her mouth.
But I spoke first.
“Dad…”
My voice shook.
“She was with another man.””
The silence afterward felt unbearable.
Claire looked at me like I had betrayed her.
Then she turned to my father.
“Thomas, please don’t listen to him. He’s confused.””
I stared at her.
“Confused?””
She stepped closer to Dad.
“He saw someone come to the house and misunderstood.””
My father looked at me.
“Is that true?””
I wanted to scream.
I wanted him to believe me immediately.
But I knew how this looked.
I was a thirteen-year-old kid.
She was his wife.
The woman he trusted.
“She kissed him,” I said.
Claire sighed dramatically.
“Thomas, you know how emotional he has been since losing his mother.””
My father’s face tightened.
“Don’t bring his mother into this.””
Claire went quiet.
That was the first sign Dad wasn’t completely convinced.
He walked toward me.
“Where did you see them?””
“In the living room.””
“Who was the man?””
“I don’t know.””
Claire crossed her arms.
“Exactly. A stranger. A misunderstanding.””
I looked at her.
“No. You knew him.””
Her expression flickered.
Just for a second.
But Dad noticed.
“Claire?””
She looked away.
“He was someone from my past.””
My father stared.
“Your past?””
She nodded quickly.
“It was nothing.””
I almost laughed.
Nothing.
That word felt like an insult.
Dad walked into the living room.
He looked around.
Then suddenly stopped.
His eyes moved toward the small black camera near the bookshelf.
I had seen it before.
But I never thought about it.
Dad installed security cameras after our house was broken into two years earlier.
“Wait,” he whispered.
Claire’s face changed.
“What?””
Dad pulled out his phone.
“I can check the footage.””
The color drained from her face.
“No, Thomas. There’s no need.””
That was when Dad looked at her differently.
Not like a husband.
Like a man seeing a stranger.
“Why are you afraid of the cameras?””
Claire didn’t answer.
Dad opened the security app.
His finger moved across the screen.
The room became completely silent.
Then the video appeared.
There we were.
The living room.
Claire.
The man.
The kiss.
My father watched without blinking.
I watched him watching.
His jaw tightened.
His hand trembled.
Claire whispered:
“Thomas…”
He raised his hand.
“Don’t.””
The video continued.
Then came the part I hadn’t seen.
The part that made my father’s face change completely.
The man looked toward the hallway.
Toward where I had been hiding.
And he said something.
Something I didn’t hear.
Dad replayed it.
Once.
Twice.
Then he looked at Claire.
“Who is he?””
She stayed silent.
“Who is he, Claire?””
Her lips parted.
But before she could answer, Dad noticed something else on the footage.
A detail I never saw.
The man wasn’t just visiting.
He had been inside our house before.
Many times.
Dad zoomed in.
And then he whispered:
“No…”
I stepped closer.
“What is it?””
My father looked at the screen.
Then at Claire.
“The money.””
Claire went pale.
“What about the money?””
Dad slowly turned the phone toward me.
And I saw it.
The man had opened the locked office drawer.
The drawer where Dad kept important documents.
The drawer where he kept our emergency savings.
My father’s voice became quiet.
May you like
“Tell me how long you’ve been stealing from this family.””
Claire’s face went completely white.