Chapter 3 - THE VIDEORyan wanted to go home immediately.
I wouldn’t let him.
Not because I cared about the recording less than he did.
Because every time Lucas’s heartbeat dipped, Ryan’s hand tightened around mine.
I needed him beside me.
The police handled the rest.
Detective Reynolds sent two officers to secure the house. Ryan provided the code to his office. An hour later, she returned carrying a sealed evidence drive.
She didn’t smile.
But she didn’t need to.
“We have the footage.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
I asked the only question that mattered.
“Does it show everything?”
“Yes.”
The detective pulled a chair closer.
“I watched enough to establish probable cause. Mrs. Brooks, you do not need to view it right now.”
“I want to.”
Dr. Parker objected.
“You’re in active labor.”
“I need to know.”
Ryan crouched beside me.
“You already know what happened.”
“No. I know what happened to me. I need to know what the camera saw.”
He understood.
Detective Reynolds placed a tablet on the movable tray beside my bed.
The video began at 2:07 p.m.
My kitchen.
Me entering with a glass of water.
Brianna sitting at the island.
I watched myself on-screen and felt detached from the woman I saw.
She looked tired.
Huge.
Happy, almost.
She had no idea what was coming.
We heard Brianna asking for the money.
My refusal.
Her voice changing.
Then something I had forgotten.
At 2:19, before she struck me, Brianna said:
“If Ryan loses this Singapore contract, you’ll wish you’d helped me.”
Ryan froze.
“What?”
I looked at him.
“You heard that?”
He replayed it.
“If Ryan loses this Singapore contract…”
His expression sharpened.
Detective Reynolds noticed.
“Is that significant?”
Ryan didn’t answer immediately.
Then he said, “Nobody outside the executive team knows the Singapore contract is in jeopardy.”
I stared at him.
“You told me everything was going well.”
“It was.”
“Was?”
“Two weeks ago, confidential bid data leaked to a competitor. We thought it came from our Singapore office.”
Detective Reynolds sat straighter.
“Could your sister have access to your company information?”
“No.”
Ryan paused.
“Not officially.”
That phrase would change everything.
But first, the recording continued.
On-screen, Brianna came around the island.
She grabbed my hair.
I heard myself scream.
Then the punch.
Ryan turned away.
“Stop it.”
I reached for his hand.
“Ryan.”
“I can’t watch this.”
The detective stopped the video.
His shoulders shook once.
I had never seen my husband cry.
Not at his father’s memorial service.
Not when our first pregnancy ended at eleven weeks.
Not when doctors told us there was a chance we might never have children naturally.
Now he covered his face.
“I brought her into our lives.”
“No.”
“I kept forgiving her.”
“You didn’t make her do this.”
“I gave her the house code.”
“Ryan.”
“I told her about the security cameras.”
“You didn’t tell her about the backup.”
He lowered his hands.
“I should have protected you.”
I touched his cheek.
“You came home.”
He kissed my palm.
Then Lucas’s monitor shrieked.
Everything happened at once.
Nurses rushed in.
Dr. Parker stared at the screen.
“Heart rate seventy.”
“What does that mean?” Ryan asked.
“We need to move.”
“To where?”
“Operating room.”
My throat closed.
“Now?”
“Now.”
She leaned toward me.
“Claire, Baby B isn’t tolerating labor. I recommend an emergency C-section.”
I nodded before she finished.
“Save them.”
“We’re going to take care of all three of you.”
Ryan changed into scrubs while they prepared me.
I remember being wheeled down a hallway beneath bright ceiling lights.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
I counted them because counting was easier than thinking.
Inside the operating room, they placed a drape above my chest.
Ryan sat beside my head.
“You’re shaking,” I whispered.
“So are you.”
“I’m allowed.”
He gave a broken laugh.
“Fair.”
The anesthesiologist told us what was happening.
Pressure.
Movement.
Voices.
Then Dr. Parker said, “Baby A.”
Silence.
One second.
Two.
Then a tiny cry.
My entire body collapsed with relief.
“Sophie?”
“A girl,” someone confirmed.
Ryan made a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob.
“She’s okay?”
“She’s small, but she’s doing well.”
They briefly held her where I could see her.
Pink skin.
Tiny mouth.
A little cap.
Then she disappeared toward the neonatal team.
“Lucas,” I said.
“We’re working on him.”
The room changed.
People moved faster.
Nobody spoke casually anymore.
I looked at Ryan.
His eyes were fixed beyond the drape.
“What’s wrong?”
Nobody answered.
“WHAT’S WRONG?”
Ryan stood slightly.
The anesthesiologist touched his shoulder.
“Dad, stay seated.”
Then I heard Dr. Parker.
“Come on, sweetheart.”
No cry.
My heart broke open.
“Lucas!”
Ryan leaned over me.
“Come on, buddy.”
Five seconds.
Ten.
An eternity.
Then a tiny sputtering sound.
And finally…
A cry.
Weak.
Angry.
Alive.
Ryan pressed his forehead against mine.
“That’s our boy.”
I sobbed.
“That’s Lucas.”
Both babies were taken directly to the NICU.
Sophie weighed four pounds eleven ounces.
Lucas weighed four pounds six.
Lucas needed breathing support.
Sophie did not.
I didn’t get to hold either of them that night.
That hurt almost as much as the surgery.
At 1:30 in the morning, I lay in recovery while Ryan sat beside me watching live camera footage of two incubators on his phone.
He refused to sleep.
Detective Reynolds returned just after two.
She looked tired.
Ryan stood.
“Did you arrest her?”
“Yes.”
I exhaled.
“For what?”
“Aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury is being reviewed, along with charges related to the pregnancy. Exact charging decisions will come from the prosecutor.”
“Where is she?”
“County detention.”
Ryan nodded.
Then the detective continued.
“But there’s another issue.”
She placed a clear evidence bag on the bedside table.
Inside was a small black device.
“What is that?” I asked.
“We found it connected to your home router.”
Ryan stared at it.
“I’ve never seen that.”
“Our cyber unit believes it was used to interfere with your camera system.”
Brianna had brought it into our home.
That alone was disturbing.
But the detective had more.
“We searched Ms. Brooks’s purse incident to arrest.”
She slid another evidence bag forward.
Inside was a USB drive.
“Do you recognize this?”
Ryan leaned closer.
His entire expression changed.
“What?”
He looked at the label.
HB INTERNATIONAL — SINGAPORE PHASE II
His company initials.
His project.
His confidential files.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“That drive belongs in a secure office safe.”
Detective Reynolds folded her arms.
“Whose safe?”
Ryan looked at me.
Then at her.
“My business partner’s.”
The detective’s next question came quietly.
“What is his name?”
“Derek Lawson.”
She wrote it down.
Then she asked, “Does Derek Lawson know your sister?”
Ryan’s silence told me the answer before he spoke.
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“I don’t know.”
But he did know something.
I could see it.
“Ryan.”
He wouldn’t look at me.
“Tell me.”
Finally, he spoke.
“Derek and Brianna dated.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“How many?”
He swallowed.
“Eight.”
Before Ryan and I met.
Detective Reynolds nodded.
“Did they remain in contact?”
“I thought no.”
The word thought hung between us.
The detective gathered the evidence bags.
“Mr. Brooks, until we understand how that drive left your company and ended up with your sister, I strongly suggest you speak with your attorneys before contacting Mr. Lawson.”
Ryan stared at the USB.
My sister-in-law had entered our house for money.
She had assaulted me.
She had nearly cost our babies their lives.
And somehow, the attack was connected to my husband’s company.
But Brianna was no criminal mastermind.
She was impulsive.
Entitled.
Desperate.
Someone else had given her access.
May you like
Someone else had helped her disable the camera.
And somewhere between my kitchen floor and the NICU, our family nightmare had become something much larger.
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