Part 4 – The Secret Victoria Could Never Hide
Police investigators arrived the next morning.
At first they believed the case would be simple.
Until Clara remembered something.
"The embroidery basket."
Officers searched Victoria's private sitting room.
Inside the basket they found:
The matching gold thread.
An identical package of pearl-headed pins.
Needles.
Scissors.
And a notebook.
The final item changed everything.
Inside were handwritten entries.
Not diary entries.
Calculations.
Leo cried five times.
Tonight he lasted thirteen minutes before falling asleep.
Must add more pins.
Increase fear.
Destroy father's patience.
The officers exchanged horrified glances.
This wasn't impulse.
This was planning.
Weeks...
perhaps months...
of calculated psychological torture.
James could barely breathe while reading the pages.
"Why?"
he whispered.
Victoria finally stopped pretending.
"You want the truth?"
Her voice became cold.
"As long as Leo existed, I would never come first."
She laughed bitterly.
"You spent every free moment worrying about him."
"I wanted a life without someone else's child."
James stared at her in disbelief.
"So you tortured a six-year-old?"
"I only wanted him sent away."
Those words echoed through the mansion.
Even the police officers looked sick.
Victoria was arrested immediately.
As she was led away in handcuffs, she looked back at Leo.
But this time...
The little boy didn't hide.
He held Clara's hand.
May you like
And he looked at her without fear.
For the first time.
