Chapter 7 - COUNTERATTACK
We returned to Sarah's farmhouse in complete silence. The horror of my father's betrayal hung over us like a toxic fog. He had traded his integrity and his daughter's safety to shield himself from financial ruin.
"We need proof that your father lied," Sarah said, pacing across her office while reviewing the affidavit Derek's lawyers had submitted. "If we prove Arthur committed perjury to cover up domestic abuse, his testimony becomes worthless, and Derek's defense crumbles."
"How do we prove it?" Daniel asked, slumped in an armchair. "It's Dad's word against mine."
I sat quietly near the window, looking out at the frozen lake. Memory after memory came rushing back—years of small, subtle details I had overlooked because I had wanted so badly to believe my family loved me.
"The security cameras," I suddenly realized, standing up.
Sarah stopped pacing. "What security cameras?"
"My father installed a high-end Ring security system around the entire exterior of his house last summer," I explained, my pulse quickening. "He put a camera right above the front door. It records video and audio of anyone standing on the porch."
"When I walked onto that porch last night," I continued, "I was holding Lily and crying. The camera would have captured my face—including the fresh bruises and the blood on my lip—before I ever set foot inside the house! And it would have captured my father's exact words when he asked if Derek was still sending the money!"
Sarah snapped her fingers. "That's it! That video completely destroys his claim that you got those injuries in a car accident afterward!"
"But Dad controls the cloud account for those cameras," Daniel pointed out glumly. "He'll delete the footage the second he realizes it refutes his affidavit."
"He can't delete what's already saved," I said, looking at Daniel. "Dad isn't good with technology. He hired you to set up the system and sync it to his tablet, didn't he?"
Daniel blinked, a slow, brilliant realization spreading across his face. "The master backup. When I set up the account, I configured it to auto-sync a secondary encrypted backup copy to my personal cloud drive in case his main storage filled up. I completely forgot!"
Daniel whipped out his laptop, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he logged into his secure drive.
For three tense minutes, the loading circle spun on the screen.
Then, a list of video files labeled Front_Door_Dec_24 appeared.
Daniel clicked the file timestamped 8:42 PM.
The screen filled with crystal-clear high-definition video. There I was, standing under the porch light, bruised and bleeding, carrying a sleeping child. And there was my father's voice, perfectly captured by the microphone:
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"Is Derek still sending the three thousand?"
Sarah leaned over the screen, a triumphant smile breaking across her face. "We don't just have evidence of domestic violence now, Anna. We have direct evidence of witness tampering and perjury."
