Chapter 5 - The Videos
I returned to the house four days later to collect clothes.
Not alone.
Molly came.
So did a civil standby officer arranged through counsel.
Scott was not there.
The house looked exactly the same.
That offended me.
My mug beside the sink.
Grace's shoes under the bench.
The blanket I used during chemotherapy folded on the sofa.
Violence had happened there and the furniture had refused to acknowledge it.
In the bedroom, Molly packed my clothes while I sat because standing too long still hurt.
Then I saw the tripod.
Small.
Folded behind Scott's desk.
I stared.
Molly followed my eyes.
"What?"
"He said he bought that for work calls."
The officer did not search anything for us.
We were there for belongings.
But my laptop was mine.
I opened it.
A folder on the desktop was labeled NATALIE RECOVERY.
Inside were videos.
Dozens.
I clicked one.
Me asleep on the couch.
Another.
Me crying after vomiting.
Another.
Me standing in the kitchen saying, "I can't do this tonight."
The clip ended there.
I remembered the full sentence.
I can't do this tonight. Please ask Grace to load the dishwasher.
Another clip showed me snapping:
"Stop asking me the same question!"
Context missing.
Scott had been asking whether I really remembered paying a bill I had paid online an hour earlier.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Until I yelled.
Molly covered her mouth.
"He was documenting you."
No.
Worse.
He was editing me.
There were filenames.
CONFUSION 1.
AGITATION.
PARENTING CONCERN.
UNSAFE STAIRS.
REFUSES FOOD.
I clicked the last.
Scott's voice came from behind the camera.
"You need to eat."
I was sitting at the table, pale.
"I can't."
"You haven't tried."
"I'm nauseated."
"You're choosing not to cooperate."
The video ended.
I remembered what happened after.
He threw the bowl in the sink and did not speak to me for six hours.
I had apologized.
For nausea.
The officer looked away to give me privacy while Molly photographed filenames for my attorney.
Then I found a subfolder.
GRACE.
My heart stopped.
Inside were not secret recordings of her.
Thank God.
They were notes.
Grace becomes anxious after visits with Natalie.
Grace asks if mother will die.
Grace's grades dipped after surgery.
Potential emotional harm from exposing child to mother's instability.
I read the last line three times.
Scott had taken our daughter's fear that I might die and turned it into an argument for keeping her away from me.
Then Molly found a printed packet in the desk drawer.
Draft parenting plan.
Temporary residence with father.
Mother's contact conditioned on medical stability.
I stopped reading.
My body began shaking.
Molly knelt in front of me.
"Nat."
I looked at her.
"He thought I'd survive."
She frowned.
"What?"
"All this planning. Custody. Divorce."
My voice broke.
"He wasn't trying to kill me."
That should have been comforting.
It wasn't.
"He was planning what happened after I got strong enough to leave."
----------------------------------------
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen.
May you like
If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://metro.treeiq.biz
New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
