Chapter 7 - THE NIGHT OF THE BATHTUB
The night Ava was taken to the emergency room began with a company email.
Raymond accidentally left his tablet unlocked on the kitchen counter.
A message from Northline Strategy appeared on the screen.
Finalize transfer before beneficiary reaches eighteen. Audit exposure increases after voting change.
Ava photographed it with an old digital camera she kept from childhood.
Then she opened the attachment.
Northline had received eleven million dollars over three years.
The money moved into accounts controlled by Raymond.
A second file showed that Marissa had signed several trustee approvals.
Some signatures appeared genuine.
Others did not.
Raymond entered the kitchen.
Ava tried to close the tablet.
He saw the attachment.
“What did you send?”
“Nothing.”
He grabbed the camera.
She held on.
The strap broke.
The camera struck the floor.
The memory card slid beneath the refrigerator.
Raymond did not see it.
He pulled Ava toward the hallway.
Marissa appeared on the stairs.
“What happened?”
“She copied financial records.”
Ava looked at her.
“He stole eleven million dollars.”
Marissa’s face changed.
Not with surprise.
With fear.
“You knew,” Ava whispered.
“I knew he moved money.”
“You signed the transfers.”
“He said the company would fail.”
Raymond tightened his hand around Ava’s arm.
“Get the proxy.”
Marissa did not move.
“Now.”
She returned carrying the document.
Raymond placed it on the bathroom counter.
“Sign.”
“No.”
“You are going to the treatment center tomorrow.”
“I sent the recordings.”
He stared at her necklace.
Ava realized her mistake.
Raymond reached for it.
She stepped backward.
Her heel struck the bathmat.
He seized the chain and pulled.
The clasp held.
Ava screamed.
Marissa stood in the doorway.
“Raymond, stop.”
He shoved Ava against the side of the bathtub.
Pain exploded through her shoulder.
The shower turned on when her hand struck the handle.
Cold water soaked her clothes.
Raymond tried to tear the necklace away.
Ava curled around it.
He pushed her down against the wet floor.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
Marissa covered her mouth.
Raymond looked at her.
“Help me.”
She did not.
But she did not call for help either.
Ava tried to stand.
Raymond pushed her backward.
Her head struck the wall.
The room blurred.
The pendant continued recording.
Through the ringing in her ears, Ava heard Raymond say:
“We take her to the hospital. She slipped. The bruises are from her episodes.”
Marissa whispered, “There are too many.”
“Then you cry. Mothers are believable when they cry.”
Ava tried to reach the emergency button.
Raymond stepped on her hand.
She cried out.
He leaned down.
“Three more weeks, and the judge will believe you’re too unstable to control the company.”
Ava managed to hold the pendant’s side for three seconds.
The green light flashed.
The file transmitted before she lost consciousness.
Raymond lifted her from the bathroom floor.
Marissa wrapped her in a towel.
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Neither of them knew Rebecca had already received the emergency alert.
👉 Raymond carried Ava into the ER to create one final false medical record—while the necklace beneath her wet clothes was uploading the truth in real time.
