Chapter 4 - Six Weeks of Silence
The recording captured the argument inside the house.
Claire’s voice.
Dominic’s threat.
The impact when Vivienne fell.
The front door closing.
Then forty minutes of wind, Sophia’s faint breathing, and Vivienne repeatedly saying the road name so rescuers could reconstruct her movement.
It also captured Dominic opening the door once after several minutes.
He stepped onto the porch.
Vivienne begged him to let Sophia inside.
Dominic answered:
“You always survive. Prove it.”
Then he locked the door again.
Fiona sent the recording to an independent forensic audio lab and placed copies in three separate evidence systems.
Still, she did not arrest Dominic immediately.
The mountain property’s exterior cameras had been wiped.
Hospital notes repeated Dominic’s postpartum claim.
And Beatrice produced a statement saying Vivienne had threatened to disappear with the baby.
Dominic filed for emergency custody within twenty-four hours.
His petition stated that Vivienne voluntarily left the house during a psychiatric episode and endangered Sophia by carrying her into a storm.
That filing helped Fiona.
Dominic had committed his version to a sworn document.
Vivienne allowed the public to believe she was recovering privately while investigators collected phone records, security backups, medical communications, and messages between Dominic and Claire.
Dominic moved quickly.
He announced that his marriage had effectively ended before Sophia’s birth.
Then he and Claire scheduled a luxury wedding only six weeks after the storm.
The speed appeared cruel.
To Fiona, it was useful.
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It gave Dominic a deadline.
People rushing toward a new life often forgot to clean the old one carefully.
