Chapter 2 - The Hospital and the Horror
The emergency room lights blinded me as the doctor carefully stitched the gash on my temple.
Fifteen stitches, a mild concussion, and a permanent scar to remember my marriage by.
As soon as the nurse left me alone in the private room, I pulled out my laptop.
My hands were shaking violently as I retrieved the tiny memory card from my pocket.
Clara’s terrified voice echoed in my mind: Do not let them find this.
I slid the card into the adapter and plugged it into my computer.
There was only one folder on the drive, labeled simply as "Lake House 2018."
I clicked it, expecting to find proof of embezzlement or offshore tax evasion.
Instead, I found a series of digitized police reports, private investigator files, and security footage.
The files centered around a woman named Victoria Vance.
I recognized the name immediately.
Victoria was Julian’s older brother’s first wife, who supposedly died in a tragic boating accident six years ago.
The family had always refused to speak about her.
I opened the first video file, my heart pounding against my ribs.
It was footage from a dock at the family’s summer estate.
I watched as Julian’s brother, Marcus, argued violently with Victoria on the edge of the pier.
She was waving a stack of financial documents in his face.
Suddenly, Eleanor stepped into the frame from behind.
With a chillingly calm expression, Julian's mother shoved Victoria hard in the center of her back.
Victoria tumbled into the dark, churning water below.
She couldn't swim, a fact the entire family knew perfectly well.
The video showed Marcus and Eleanor standing on the dock for a full ten minutes, watching the water until the struggling stopped.
I slapped a hand over my mouth to muffle my scream.
They didn't just cover up financial crimes.
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The Sterling family were cold-blooded murderers.
And if they found out I had this footage, I would be next.
