Chapter 7 - The Brother's Betrayal
An hour later, David arrived at my house carrying a dark leather laptop bag. He looked pale, exhausted, and visibly shaken. I let him in, but I kept my distance, sitting across from him at the kitchen island while Lily watched cartoons in the adjoining room.
"I have the full evening footage," David said, setting his laptop on the counter and opening a series of video files. "I was filming a vlog for Leo's birthday all afternoon. My phone was rolling on a tripod in the hallway near the downstairs bathroom for almost twenty minutes before you found her."
My chest tightened. "What's on that clip?"
David pulled up a file timestamped at 7:15 PM and pressed play.
The camera angle was high, showing the narrow hallway leading to the downstairs bathroom. In the video, five-year-old Lily walked down the hall holding a small juice box. Suddenly, Sarah stepped out from the kitchen, grabbed Lily rough by her shoulder, and dragged her toward the dark bathroom.
The audio was horrifyingly clear.
"You're not going to ruin Leo's day with your crying!" Sarah hissed in the video, her fingernails digging deep into Lily's arms as the child squirmed in panic. "Get in there and shut up!"
Sarah shoved Lily into the dark room, slapped her across the cheek when the little girl tried to push past her, and locked the door from the outside using the exterior emergency latch.
I slammed my fist onto the counter, cracking the laminate surface. "She locked a five-year-old in a dark bathroom after striking her!"
"It gets worse," David whispered, his voice cracking. "Watch the next three minutes."
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In the video, my mother walked right past the locked bathroom door. Lily’s soft muffled screams were audible. My mother stopped, looked directly at the door, checked her reflection in the hallway mirror, adjusted her necklace, and walked back into the living room without lifting a single finger.
"They knew," I breathed out, my eyes burning with tears of absolute rage. "They all knew she was locked in there."
