Chapter 3
The footage began with silence.
Victoria sat on the sofa scrolling through her phone.
Leo walked past with his toy car.
He stumbled.
The toy dragged across the handbag.
A tiny scratch.
That was all.
Victoria’s face changed on the screen.
She grabbed Leo so hard his little feet lifted off the floor.
I heard his cry come through the tablet speakers.
“Bad boy,” she hissed in the video.
David’s arms tightened around him.
Then I appeared, running in from the hallway.
“Let him go.”
Victoria shoved Leo toward the sofa.
Then she grabbed the golf club.
The camera caught everything.
The swing.
My body turning.
The club striking my arm.
Leo screaming.
Victoria lifting it again.
Then David entering.
The video ended.
Nobody moved.
Victoria’s face had gone white.
David looked at Martin.
“Call the police.”
Victoria gasped.
“David!”
He ignored her.
“Then call Dr. Ellis for Maria.”
I shook my head.
“No doctor. Please.”
He looked at me gently.
“Maria, she hit you with a golf club.”
“I don’t have insurance.”
His expression changed.
Something like shame crossed his face.
“You work in my house. You will be cared for.”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“Oh, wonderful. Now the maid gets royal treatment.”
David turned on her so fast she stepped back.
“You raised a weapon in my home.”
“She’s turning you against me.”
“You did that alone.”
Victoria’s eyes filled with fake tears.
“I was overwhelmed. Leo has been impossible. He never listens. He cries for Elena all day. Do you know what it’s like living with another woman’s ghost?”
David went still.
Leo whispered, “Mommy.”
That tiny word destroyed the room.
Victoria pointed at him.
“See? He does it on purpose.”
David’s face became something I had never seen.
Grief and rage standing side by side.
“He is two years old.”
“He ruins everything!”
The words flew out before she could stop them.
Martin lowered his eyes.
I realized then he knew.
Maybe the cook knew too.
Maybe the driver.
Maybe everyone had heard pieces and stayed quiet because Victoria wore diamonds and signed checks.
David looked around the room.
“How long?”
No one answered.
His voice sharpened.
“How long has this been happening?”
Leo clung to his shirt.
I swallowed.
“Since I started working here.”
David slowly turned to me.
“What?”
Victoria snapped, “She’s lying.”
May you like
I lifted my bruised arm.
“I wish I was.”
