Chapter 6 - The Father Who Claimed He Knew Nothing
Vivian listened to the dead line.
“No,” she whispered.
Daniel immediately attempted to trace the call.
The signal had passed through several encrypted relays, but his technical team determined that Dr. Price was probably calling from somewhere in northern Vermont.
Vivian sat beside the table, unable to move.
Thatcher had been absent for most of the morning Sabina became sick. Yet he had returned to the manor before the dinner. He could have entered Sabina’s room while Vivian was downstairs. He could have added something to her medicine.
But why would he risk his own daughter’s life?
The answer came with unbearable clarity.
Because he had not believed there was a risk.
To Thatcher, Sabina’s suffering had been an acceptable inconvenience.
Daniel cautioned her against assuming the call was genuine.
“The voice could have been manipulated.”
“It sounded like him.”
“Yes, but someone has already shown the ability to record and control information inside the manor.”
“You think the caller lied?”
“I think we must verify everything.”
The police requested Thatcher’s immediate interview.
He arrived at the station with three attorneys and denied every accusation.
He acknowledged speaking with Dr. Price before dinner but claimed they discussed only general symptoms. He denied handling Sabina’s medication. He denied knowing about the payment, the hidden camera, or Dr. Price’s disappearance.
Beatrix also denied involvement.
Her attorneys argued that the library recording had been edited.
Gideon Vale refused to answer questions.
Within hours, media outlets learned that police were investigating the Ashford family.
Reporters gathered outside the townhouse.
Headlines appeared across television screens.
ASHFORD HEIR HOSPITALIZED DURING FAMILY DISPUTE
CUSTODY BATTLE THREATENS INDUSTRIAL EMPIRE
WIFE ACCUSES BILLIONAIRE HUSBAND OF MEDICAL NEGLECT
Thatcher’s public relations team released photographs from past family vacations. In each image, he stood beside Sabina with one hand placed carefully on her shoulder.
The statement accompanying the photographs described him as a devoted father targeted by a vindictive spouse.
Then a private recording of Vivian crying in the hospital corridor appeared online.
The video had been filmed without her knowledge.
It showed her saying, “I should have taken Sabina sooner. This is my fault.”
The recording ended before the nurse replied that Vivian had followed medical instructions.
Thatcher’s supporters used the clip as proof that Vivian had delayed treatment.
Daniel ordered an investigation into the leak.
Only hospital personnel and Ashford security had access to the corridor cameras.
The footage had been downloaded using credentials belonging to a nurse who died six months earlier.
“They are building a story,” Vivian said. “Every piece makes me look unstable or guilty.”
“They have been building it for years,” Daniel replied.
The custody hearing was scheduled for Friday.
Until then, Sabina remained with Vivian under trust protection. Thatcher was granted one supervised video call each evening.
On the first call, Sabina refused to appear.
On the second, she sat beside Vivian but said nothing.
Thatcher smiled at the screen.
“Hello, princess.”
Sabina held her fox against her chest.
“Hi.”
“I miss you.”
She looked at Vivian, uncertain.
Thatcher continued.
“The house feels empty without you.”
“Beatrix is there.”
“Beatrix works here.”
“Does she sleep there?”
The question surprised everyone.
Thatcher’s smile faded.
“Why would you ask that?”
“I saw her coming out of your room.”
Vivian turned toward Sabina.
“When?”
“The night before I got sick.”
Thatcher’s voice became sharp.
“Sabina, children sometimes misunderstand what they see.”
“She was wearing your shirt.”
The court-appointed supervisor cleared his throat.
“Mr. Ashford, please avoid pressuring the child.”
“I am not pressuring her.”
Sabina’s fingers tightened around the toy.
“Did you put the drops in my medicine?”
Thatcher froze.
Vivian felt the room disappear around her.
“What drops?” she asked.
Sabina looked at her.
“Dad came into my room when you were talking to the flower people. He said my medicine tasted bad because the doctor made it stronger.”
Thatcher stood abruptly.
“This call is over.”
The supervisor ordered him to remain.
“Mr. Ashford, sit down.”
Thatcher walked away from the camera.
The screen went dark.
Vivian knelt beside Sabina.
“Sweetheart, tell me exactly what happened.”
Sabina’s face crumpled.
“Dad told me not to tell you because you worry too much.”
“What did he do?”
“He put silver drops in the spoon.”
“Did you take it?”
Sabina nodded.
“It tasted like metal.”
Vivian hugged her.
Daniel contacted the police before the call record was complete.
The next morning, investigators searched Ashford Manor.
They found no bottle in the medicine cabinet.
They did find traces of an unidentified compound inside one of Sabina’s medicine spoons.
The spoon had been washed twice.
Forensic analysis would take several days.
Thatcher’s attorneys claimed Vivian had coached Sabina.
Beatrix appeared on television outside the courthouse.
“It is tragic,” she said, “when a mother uses a frightened child to punish her husband.”
Vivian watched from Daniel’s office.
She expected anger.
Instead, she felt calm.
“Let her keep talking,” she said.
Daniel looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because she believes she has already won.”
That afternoon, Vivian met Mr. Elias Harcourt.
The man whose dinner Thatcher had valued above his daughter was seventy years old and walked with a carved wooden cane.
He entered the conference room without an entourage.
“I owe you an apology,” Harcourt said.
“For what?”
“For remaining at the manor after I learned Sabina had been taken to the hospital.”
“You knew?”
“Not immediately. Beatrix told us you had created a scene over a minor fever. Thatcher continued dinner as if nothing had happened.”
“And you still signed the agreement.”
Harcourt lowered his eyes.
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because I believed the agreement would protect Ashford Biogenics from collapse.”
“It would transfer our patents to Halcyon.”
“It would place them under temporary joint control.”
“That is not what the documents say.”
“I know that now.”
Vivian studied him.
“Why are you here?”
Harcourt placed a flash drive on the table.
“Because the dinner was recorded.”
“By the hidden camera?”
“No. By me.”
He pressed the drive toward her.
“At nine twelve that evening, three minutes before Thatcher signed the agreement, he received a call.”
“From whom?”
“I don’t know. But after the call, he told Beatrix something I have not been able to forget.”
Vivian inserted the drive into Daniel’s computer.
The audio began with voices, clinking glasses, and distant music.
Then Thatcher spoke quietly.
“She took the child to Saint Catherine’s.”
Beatrix replied, “Will Vivian return?”
“No.”
“How can you be certain?”
May you like
Thatcher’s answer was clear.
“Because by the time the doctors understand what’s happening, she’ll be too terrified to think about anything else.”
