name, and the man reluctantly let us inside.
The key opened a narrow steel box in the archive room.
Inside were royalty statements, letters, and a small digital recorder sealed in plastic.
I pressed the button.
Daniel’s voice filled the room.
“Helen, if Richard has tried to take control again, play the next recording in front of all our children.”
The following morning, all four children joined the video call again.
Richard appeared last, with a solicitor seated beside him.
“I’m here under protest,” he said.
Mira placed Daniel’s recorder on the table.
“You asked for proof that Helen requires your protection.
She has proof that she requires protection from you.”
Richard’s solicitor whispered to him.
“That recording proves nothing,” Richard said.
I pressed play.
Daniel’s voice crackled through the speaker.
“Twelve years ago, I discovered Richard had copied Helen’s signature onto a withdrawal request.
He took forty-two thousand dollars
