Chapter 3: The Fall of Victoria Lane
Victoria never expected Richard to return so quickly.
She was sitting in the mansion's grand living room when the front doors burst open.
Richard entered carrying Liam in one arm.
The other two boys held Emily's hands.
Victoria's smile faded.
"Richard? What's wrong?"
He threw the nanny camera onto the marble floor.
"Play it."
Her face turned white.
"I don't know what—"
"Play it."
The room echoed with the recording.
Every threat.
Every insult.
Every cruel word.
Victoria's expression collapsed.
The mask was gone.
For several seconds nobody spoke.
Then Richard asked one question.
"How long?"
Victoria looked away.
"Richard—"
"How long have you hated my children?"
Silence.
The answer was enough.
Within an hour, her engagement was over.
Security escorted her from the property.
But the nightmare wasn't finished.
As investigators examined the evidence, they discovered something even worse.
The missing Rolex had never been stolen.
Victoria had purchased an identical watch weeks earlier.
The entire accusation against Emily had been planned.
The police soon uncovered financial records showing Victoria intended to gain access to Richard's fortune immediately after marriage.
She wasn't in love.
She was hunting.
And the triplets had simply been obstacles standing in her way.
By sunset, Victoria Lane was facing fraud charges.
The media frenzy that followed destroyed her carefully crafted image forever.
Meanwhile, Richard sat alone in his office.
The evidence lay on his desk.
The boys were asleep upstairs.
And one painful truth kept repeating in his mind.
Emily had tried to protect them.
He had punished her for it.
And now he had no idea how to make things right.