Chapter 7 - The Performance They Planned.
By morning, Claire understood why Dominic had not seemed surprised when she walked into the kitchen.
He had seemed irritated.
There was a difference.
Rachel obtained a copy of Mercer Home Systems' internal access logs and found that Dominic had downloaded Claire's travel schedule four times during the previous week.
He knew exactly when her original flight was supposed to land.
He also knew she had changed it.
Someone at the airline had sent an automated itinerary update to the family travel account.
Dominic had opened that email six hours before Claire entered the house.
"He knew I was coming early," Claire said.
Rachel nodded.
"Which means the scene in the kitchen may not have been accidental."
Claire felt physically sick.
The destroyed cake.
The mistress in red.
Leo on the floor.
Evelyn holding Mia while Dominic laughed.
It had looked like reckless arrogance.
Now it looked like a trap.
Nathan arrived at the hotel shortly before noon carrying a laptop and a face full of shame.
"I need to tell you something."
Claire did not invite him to sit.
"Start talking."
Nathan placed the laptop on the table.
"Dominic asked me two months ago if I knew anyone who could install hidden cloud backups on home cameras."
Claire's eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
"He said you were worried about security."
"I never asked for that."
"I know that now."
Nathan opened a folder containing screenshots of messages between himself and Dominic.
One message made Claire stop breathing for a moment.
Need footage of her losing control, Dominic had written.
Nathan had responded with a laughing emoji because he thought his brother was joking.
A later message said, Mom says the kids will push her over the edge if we time it right.
Claire looked up.
"Your mother said that?"
Nathan's face reddened.
"I didn't understand what they meant."
"You didn't want to understand."
He accepted the accusation without defending himself.
Rachel scrolled farther.
There were plans to provoke Claire during a recorded confrontation after her return.
Dominic had expected her to arrive the following afternoon.
Sienna was supposed to be there.
Evelyn was supposed to hold Mia.
Leo was supposed to be kept awake past his usual nap until he became emotional.
Then Dominic would confront Claire about her business travel and the fabricated photograph with Daniel.
They wanted Claire angry on camera.
They wanted shouting.
They wanted proof that she was unstable.
Claire covered her mouth.
"Leo wasn't collateral damage."
Rachel looked at the messages again.
"He was part of the setup."
Claire walked to the window because she could not bear for anyone to see her face.
Her husband had used their son's exhaustion and fear as stage lighting for a lie.
Nathan spoke behind her.
"The cake wasn't supposed to fall."
Claire turned sharply.
"How do you know?"
"Dominic called me after you arrived."
Nathan swallowed.
"He said everything got ruined when Leo knocked down the cake and stole the memory card."
The room became silent.
The ruined cake had destroyed Dominic's plan.
Leo, the child Dominic called a beast, had accidentally saved his mother.
Rachel's phone rang.
She answered, listened, and closed her eyes briefly.
"What?" Claire asked.
Rachel ended the call.
"Dominic filed an emergency petition this morning."
Claire's heart dropped.
"For what?"
"Temporary custody of both children and temporary control of Mercer Home Systems."
May you like
Rachel looked directly at her.
"He's using the forged medical letter."
