Chapter 2: The Missing Minute
The monitor flickered once.
Then twice.
Nothing.
Ethan stared at the blank screen.
“Why did it stop?”” he demanded.
Gloria walked back to the monitor.
“I didn't stop it.””
Sophia was still near the doorway.
Her face had lost every trace of the tears she had been pretending to shed.
Ethan noticed.
“You're not crying anymore.””
Sophia swallowed.
“I’m in shock.””
“No,” Ethan said quietly.
“You're scared.””
Sophia shook her head.
“Ethan, your mother has been trying to turn you against me for years.””
Gloria turned around.
“Don't put this on me.””
“You attacked me,” Sophia snapped.
The words came too quickly.
Ethan stared at her.
“You just watched yourself fake the whole thing.””
Sophia’s expression hardened.
“You believe a camera over your wife?””
“I believe what I see.””
Gloria reached beneath the monitor and checked the cable.
“It wasn't unplugged.””
Ethan looked at her.
“Then what happened?””
Gloria pointed at the screen.
“Someone deleted something.””
Sophia gave a nervous laugh.
“That's ridiculous.””
Gloria's eyes narrowed.
“Is it?””
She walked to the coffee table.
The room was exactly as it had been in the footage.
A glass.
A folded napkin.
A stack of family photographs.
And underneath the photographs, a small black remote.
Gloria picked it up.
Sophia’s eyes immediately followed it.
Ethan noticed.
“What does that control?””
Sophia answered too quickly.
“Nothing.””
Ethan looked at her.
“You knew what she was holding.””
Sophia’s lips parted.
“I've seen it before.””
“Where?””
“I don't remember.””
Gloria placed the remote on the table.
Then she looked at Ethan.
“Your father gave me this system years ago.””
Ethan frowned.
“Why would anyone delete footage?””
Gloria didn't answer.
She turned the monitor back on.
The security footage returned.
But there was a gap.
A timestamp jumped from 11:42:17 to 11:43:03.
Forty-six seconds were missing.
Ethan stepped forward.
“Play it.””
“I can't.””
“Why?””
“Because someone removed that section.””
Sophia folded her arms.
“Maybe the system malfunctioned.””
Gloria looked at her.
“Security cameras don't usually malfunction for exactly forty-six seconds.””
Ethan's jaw tightened.
“Sophia.””
“What?””
“Where were you during those forty-six seconds?””
Sophia stared at him.
“In this room.””
“Doing what?””
“Nothing.””
Gloria quietly picked up one of the family photographs.
Behind it was a small handwritten note.
She unfolded it.
Ethan watched her face change.
“What is it?””
Gloria looked at him.
“Something I found yesterday.””
Sophia suddenly moved.
She crossed the room and reached for the paper.
“Give me that.””
Ethan caught her wrist.
“Why?””
Sophia pulled back.
“Because it's private.””
Gloria stared at the note.
Then she read the single sentence written across it.
“Ask Ethan why his signature is on the second copy.””
Ethan went completely still.
“The second copy of what?””
Gloria folded the note.
“I don't know yet.””
Sophia's voice cracked.
“Because there is no second copy.””
Ethan slowly turned toward her.
“How do you know that?””
Sophia didn't answer.
The wall-mounted monitor suddenly made a sharp electronic sound.
A new file appeared.
*CAMERA 03 — RECOVERED VIDEO.*
Ethan stepped toward the screen.
“Mom…”
Gloria pressed play.
The recovered footage began.
May you like
But before anyone could see what was on it, Sophia whispered one sentence.
“Ethan, please don't watch this.””
