“Don’t hit me! Daddy!”
Michael stormed in, scooped Ava up, and glared at Hannah.
“What did you do now?”
“I didn’t touch her!”
“If you can’t be a mother,” he snapped, “leave.”
Later, Hannah found a small voice recorder hidden in the couch.
Her phone buzzed again.
A photo: a pharmacy receipt. Michael’s name. Haloperidol.
Another message: “Ask him what he mixes into her chocolate milk.”
Hannah listened.
She heard Michael threatening Ava, calling Hannah a witch, forcing her to scream, destroying her toys.
Then her laptop flickered.
“I know you’re listening. Open the door. NOW.”
Michael entered, erased the evidence remotely, took her phone, and locked her inside.
The next day, guards blocked her exit. Mrs. Collins confessed Michael was blackmailing her.
Desperate, Hannah broke into the attic and found a diary.
Rachel Morgan.
Ava’s mother.
The entries described fear, drugging, bruises. The truth was clear: Michael needed Rachel dead to control Ava’s trust fund.
Hidden documents confirmed everything.
When Hannah tried calling 911, Michael stopped her. A corrupt doctor sedated her while his mother watched. His mistress, Lauren Pierce, posed as a nurse.