Victoria Slapped Her Six-Year-Old Daughter, Then Humiliated the Maid Who Tried to Protect Her—Until Lily Whispered What Happened Every Time Dad Left Home. What Grace Had Been Secretly Recording for Months Revealed Why Victoria Kept Turning Off the Cameras. / Chapter 25 / 33

Chapter 25 - The Burner Phone Rings

"If you lay one finger on her, Victoria, I swear to God—"

"You swear to God what, Daniel?" Victoria interrupted, her tone sharpening into razor-edged amusement. "You’ll cut off my credit cards again? You’ll drag me in front of another sanctimonious judge while that disgusting little maid looks on with her holier-than-thou smirk?"

In the background of the call, muffled behind layers of static and the rumbling hum of a heavy engine, a faint, terrified whimper rose up.

*“Daddy... Daddy, it’s dark...”*

"Lily!" Daniel shouted, slamming both palms onto the table. "Lily, baby, listen to Daddy! I’m coming! I’m right behind you!"

A sharp crack echoed through the line, followed by the sickening thud of hand hitting flesh, and Lily’s breathless gasp of agony.

"Shut that brat up, Julian!" Victoria hissed away from the receiver, before bringing her mouth back to the microphone. "Listen to me very carefully, Daniel. You stole my life. You humiliated me in front of every country club board from here to Manhattan. You froze my accounts. You locked me in a cage with degenerates."

"Take the money, Victoria!" Daniel pleaded, his voice cracking with desperation, stripping away every ounce of his pride. "Every single dollar. The offshore accounts, the Swiss bonds, the real estate portfolio—take it all! Just tell me where to bring it. Take everything and leave the country!"

"Oh, I intend to take everything," Victoria purred, a dark, manic thrill vibrating in her voice. "But money doesn't wipe away the stain of what you did. You chose a sniveling little servant and a broken six-year-old over *me*. You made me look weak."

"Victoria, please," Grace stepped forward, speaking directly toward the speakerphone, her medical training keeping her voice steady despite the tremor in her hands. "Victoria, think about what you’re doing. Felony kidnapping carries a life sentence without parole. Turn the van around. Drop Lily at a hospital. You still have time to cut a deal with the federal prosecutor."

A chilling silence stretched across the line. When Victoria spoke again, the playfulness had completely vanished, replaced by a venomous, unhinged fury.

"Grace. You insolent little parasite. Did you really think you won? Did you think you could wear my clothes, clean my house, record my conversations, and play mother to my daughter?" Victoria sneered. "I’m going to make Daniel watch while I throw Lily into the black water of the river. And then, Grace, Julian is coming back for you."

The call went dead with a hollow click.