Chapter 1 - The Trap Springs
The knock on the door was sharp, echoing like a gavel in the suffocating silence of the hospital room. Daniel’s eyes darted frantically between Dr. Ortiz and the curtain, his hands visibly trembling.
"Detectives," Lena said, her voice dripping with ice as she slid her phone into her pocket. "Right on time."
Two investigators stepped inside, their sharp gazes instantly locking onto Daniel’s pale face and Vivian’s panicked, wide-eyed stare. Detective Miller, a seasoned investigator with a reputation for spotting liars, didn't waste time.
"Mr. Vance? We received an emergency report regarding a severe domestic assault," Miller said, pulling out a notepad.
"A-Assault?" Daniel stammered, trying to regain his smooth, charming persona. He forced a weak, sorrowful smile. "No, there’s been a terrible misunderstanding, officer. My wife... she’s incredibly clumsy. She spilled some boiling soup. My mother and I are absolutely devastated."
Vivian immediately began to sob, clutching her chest. "It was an accident! I told her not to cook while tired! She just wouldn't listen!"
"Is that so?" Lena interrupted, stepping forward. She handed Detective Miller a tablet. "Because the patient's home security network—which is backed up to a secure cloud server—tells a very different story. Perhaps you'd like to see the footage of Mrs. Vance lifting a pot of boiling oil and deliberately throwing it across my patient's back, while Mr. Vance casually steps over her screaming body?"
Daniel lunged forward to grab the tablet, but the second detective, a towering officer named Davis, stepped firmly into his path.
"I suggest you stand back, sir," Davis warned.
As Detective Miller played the video, the audio filled the sterile hospital room. Vivian’s cold, whispered words—“Maybe next time dinner will be on the table before my son gets home”—rang out with terrifying clarity, followed by my agonizing screams.
Daniel’s face went from pale to completely ash. Vivian let out a sharp gasp and collapsed onto a visitor’s chair, her dramatic tears instantly drying up as sheer terror took over.
"Daniel Vance and Vivian Vance," Detective Miller said, his voice deadly serious as he pulled out handcuffs. "You are under arrest for aggravated domestic assault, conspiracy, and attempted murder."
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As the steel cuffs clicked around their wrists, Daniel looked back at me, his eyes wide with a mixture of rage and desperation. I met his gaze through the pain, offering him a tiny, cold smile.
The game had finally begun.
