Chapter 4 - The Script Reverses
While Rose and Kyle were busy celebrating at a local diner, convinced they had successfully painted me as a unhinged monster and would soon force Ethan to hand over the $50,000 to drop the "charges," Detective Vance was watching the unedited, high-definition cloud footage.
The video was chillingly clear. It showed Rose demanding the money. It showed me calmly refusing. It showed Rose walking over to the display, picking up the heavy wrought-iron rod, and swinging it with full, malicious intent directly into my pregnant stomach. It captured Kyle laughing in the background before quickly switching his phone to record his curated version of the aftermath.
The next morning, the local news broadcast didn't feature the story of a "crazed pregnant woman." Instead, the headlines screamed: "Prominent Senior Prosecutor Brutally Assaulted at Baby Shower; Mother and Brother Arrested."
Rose was arrested at her home, still wearing the same clothes from the baby shower. When the police kicked down the door, she tried to pull her usual dramatic routine, clutching her chest and claiming she was having a heart attack. The arresting officers, completely unmoved after watching the horrific footage of her striking a pregnant woman, cuffed her tightly behind her back. Kyle tried to run out the back door, but he was tackled into the mud by two officers.
They were hauled into the precinct, their arrogance completely shattered when they were placed in separate interrogation rooms. They still didn't know about the body-cam. They thought it was just my word against theirs.
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From my hospital bed, via a secure laptop provided by the DA's office, I watched the live feed of my mother’s interrogation. She sat there, haughty and defiant, telling the detective, "My daughter has always been a liar. She hurt herself to spite me! Ask anyone!"
The detective simply turned on the monitor in the room and hit play. As Rose watched her own monstrous actions play back in crystal-clear definition, the color completely drained from her face. The mask of the victim crumbled, leaving behind the hollow, terrified visage of a caught criminal.
