Chapter 2 - THE CHILD THEY CALLED JEALOUS.
Amanda insisted the wire belonged to the decorative belt.
She said Lily had been acting strangely ever since Michael announced the pregnancy.
Margaret quickly agreed.
According to her, children from broken homes often became jealous when stable families welcomed a new baby.
Lily stood silently while adults turned grief into guilt.
Her mother, Claire Carter, had died two years earlier.
Claire was Michael’s older sister, but the Carter family distanced themselves after she married Daniel Brooks, an auto mechanic from south Atlanta.
When Daniel later died in a workplace accident, Lily entered the mansion under temporary guardianship.
She was family by blood and an outsider by class.
Amanda used both facts against her.
Security opened the camera footage.
It showed Lily approaching slowly, holding the capped pin several inches from Amanda’s body.
There was no sudden movement.
No contact.
Then the recording skipped forward six seconds.
Amanda’s recoil appeared, but the moment before it had vanished.
Michael asked who edited the file.
The security director said only three people had access.
Michael.
Margaret.
And Amanda.
May you like
Then Lily pointed toward the screen.
Just before the missing section, Amanda looked directly at the camera and smiled.
