Chapter 3 - The Secrets in the Cloud
It took three days for the cyber forensics team hired by Rachel to crack the cloud account’s encryption, but when they did, they struck gold. The account contained hundreds of gigabytes of raw, unedited footage from the hidden cameras planted all over Corinne's house.
Sitting in Rachel’s office, Corinne watched the screen with a mixture of horror and vindication. There, in high definition, was Ross and Gwendolyn orchestrating their psychological abuse of a four-year-old child.
In one video, dated three weeks before Corinne's return, Gwendolyn was seen aggressively grabbing Casey by the left wrist—the exact wrist that had borne the dark bruise. "You listen to me," Gwendolyn hissed on the recording. "When your mother gets here, she is going to yell at you. She doesn't love you anymore. She loves the army. If you go to her, I will take away your toys and your father will leave."
Another file contained the original, unedited videos Ross had shown the police. In the unedited versions, Corinne wasn't yelling unprovoked. Ross was deliberately taunting her, throwing her deceased mother's belongings in the trash, and whispering cruel insults just off-camera until Corinne finally snapped and raised her voice. The moment she did, Ross would cut the video, saving only her reaction.
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“This is criminal child abuse, extortion, and fraud,” Rachel said, her voice laced with disgust. “We have everything we need to destroy his custody case.”
“No,” Corinne said softly, her military training kicking in. Her eyes were hard, calculating. “Winning custody isn’t enough. They tried to take my daughter. They tried to frame me for abuse. I want to know why they did this. Ross is lazy, and Gwendolyn is selfish. This took too much effort. There’s a motive we haven’t found yet.”
