Evelyn: She is bluffing, Richard. She is desperate to save her employment record.
Richard: Hannah, what proof are you talking about?
Hannah: When your father was in hospice care last year, he warned me before he passed away.
Richard blinked, staring at the young woman in astonishment.
Richard: My father spoke to you about this?
Hannah: He called me into his bedroom three days before he died. He said, 'Hannah, when I am gone, Evelyn will do everything she can to disinherit Richard and take the baby's trust.'
Evelyn: That is defamation! Arthur was on heavy morphine! He didn't know what day of the week it was!
Hannah: He gave me five hundred dollars of his personal cash, Mr. Vance. He told me to buy a security lens and put it where no one would ever suspect.
Evelyn stood up from the sofa, her hands clenching into tight fists against her designer skirt.
Evelyn: You installed unauthorized surveillance equipment inside my private home?
Richard: This is my childhood home, Evelyn. And Leo is my son. Where is the camera, Hannah?
Hannah: It’s inside the brown teddy bear on the changing table. The one your mother gave you thirty years ago.
Evelyn’s face drained of color as she instinctively took a step back toward the grand hallway.
Evelyn: That bear has been sitting on that shelf for six months!
Hannah: Yes. And it records directly to a secure cloud drive on my phone every time motion is detected.
Richard: Pull up the feed, Hannah. Right now.
Hannah unlocked her phone with trembling fingers and tapped the screen twice before turning the display toward Richard.
Hannah: This is from 1:45 PM today. Watch what happens when you drove through the front gates for your board meeting.
On the small screen, the nursery door swung open silently. Evelyn walked into the frame, carrying a pair of leather driving gloves.
Richard: Look at the time stamp. Exactly fifteen minutes after I left for downtown.
On the video, Evelyn approached the white wooden crib where the infant was sleeping peacefully under a light blue blanket.
Evelyn: Turn that off! That footage was obtained illegally without two-party consent!
Richard: This is a nanny cam inside a child's nursery, Evelyn. It is completely legal under state law.
The phone speaker crackled as Evelyn's recorded voice played through the silent room: 'Wake up, you little parasite. Let's make sure you look miserable enough for the county inspector.'
Richard’s blood ran cold as he watched his stepmother intentionally pull the baby’s legs, dragging him off the soft mattress until he tumbled onto the wooden floorboards with a dull thud.
The infant shrieked in terror on the recording as Evelyn stood over him, checking her wristwatch with complete indifference.
Richard: You dropped him on purpose.
Evelyn: It was an accident! He slipped while I was trying to lift him!
Richard: You didn't even bend down to check on him! You walked over to the mirror and fixed your hair!
Hannah: And then she locked the nursery door from the outside so I couldn't get in until she went downstairs to make her tea.
Evelyn reached out suddenly, clawing at Hannah’s hand to snatch the smartphone.
Evelyn: Give me that phone, you insolent little thief!
Richard caught Evelyn's wrist in mid-air with a grip like steel, his eyes blazing with fury.
Richard: Don't you dare touch her. And don't you dare move another inch.
Evelyn winced, trying to yank her arm back, but Richard held her firmly in place.
Evelyn: Let go of me! You are assaulting me in my own residence!
Richard: This residence stopped being yours the moment you laid hands on my baby.
A heavy car door slammed outside in the driveway, followed by the sound of firm footsteps approaching the front porch.
Hannah: That’s the caseworker's car, Mr. Vance. And there's a police cruiser right behind them.