Chapter 3 - The Ghost of the Past
The following morning, James arrived at the hospital.
His flight from London had been delayed twice, and when he walked into the sterile white room, he looked ten years older. His suit was rumpled, his eyes bloodshot. He took one look at Sophia—still bruised, clutching a corner of the blanket like a lifeline—and broke down completely. He dropped to his knees beside the bed, burying his face in his hands.
"I should have been here," he choked out. "I shouldn't have taken that overseas contract."
"It's not your fault, James," I said, resting a hand on his trembling shoulder. "None of us knew."
"Amy," he growled, standing up, his grief instantly hardening into pure fury. "Where is she? The police told me she's in the secure ward down the hall. They said she claims she's a victim too."
"She's lying," I said, handing him the folder Detective Chen had left with me. "Read this. She planned the whole thing. Kevin was just a blunt instrument."
James skimmed the diary pages, his face draining of color. He had always been skeptical of Amy, frequently warning me that she was a parasite living off my goodwill. But even he had never imagined a plot this dark.
We decided to confront her.
With Detective Chen accompanying us, we walked down to the secure psychiatric wing where Amy was being held for observation. She sat on the edge of her bed, her bandaged arm resting in a sling, looking every bit the fragile, battered victim.
When she saw us walk in, her expression shifted seamlessly from sorrow to relief.
"Nicole! James! Oh, thank God," she cried, making a move to get up. "They won't let me leave. They think I had something to do with it. You know Kevin, right? You know how terrifying he is!"
"Stop it, Amy," I said, my voice dead calm, cold as ice.
She froze, her fake tears hovering on her eyelashes. "What?"
"We read the diary. We saw the second phone," James stepped forward, his voice shaking with restrained violence. "We know you staged the break-in. We know you brought Kevin into this house specifically to terrorize Sophia so you could build a paper trail against him while executing your own scheme."
Amy stared at us for a long, agonizing moment. The trembling vulnerability vanished, replaced by a terrifying, hollow calm. She slowly leaned back against the pillows, a thin, bitter smile touching her bruised lip.
"You always were entirely too arrogant, Nicole," Amy whispered, her voice devoid of warmth. "Everything comes so easily to you. The fellowships, the happy marriage, the perfect child. I gave up my youth working dead-end jobs while you flew off to Boston to play the brilliant academic."
"That gives you the right to torture my five-year-old daughter?" I screamed, lunging forward, but Detective Chen held me back.
"I didn't torture her," Amy snapped defensively. "Kevin got out of hand. He was supposed to just keep her scared and compliant while I forced the legal paperwork through your lawyer's office. But Kevin is an idiot. He started hitting her too hard. Still... it worked, didn't it? You came running back. Just like I knew you would."
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Detective Chen tapped her pocket, where a concealed recording device clicked off.
"Thank you for the confession, Amy," Sarah said calmly. "The warrant for attempted kidnapping, child endangerment, and conspiracy to commit fraud has just been upgraded."
