Chapter 2 - Building the FortressBy noon, the house had changed.
New deadbolts had been installed on every exterior door.
The windows had reinforced locks.
The garage keypad had been replaced.
Then David installed security cameras.
One faced the front porch.
Another watched the driveway.
A third covered the backyard gate.
Leah sat in the nursery, folding tiny clothes with trembling hands.
"You don't have to do all this yourself," she whispered.
David tightened the last camera bracket.
"Yes, I do."
He looked at the monitor.
"I should have protected you sooner."
Leah's expression softened.
"This isn't your fault."
David wanted to believe her.
But guilt had already begun eating away at him.
For years, his mother had convinced him that her controlling behavior was simply love.
She called constantly.
She demanded to know where he was.
She criticized Leah.
She insisted that nobody would ever understand David the way she did.
He had always defended her.
Until now.
His phone vibrated.
MOM — MISSED CALL.
A second vibration.
MOM — MISSED CALL.
Then a voicemail.
David stared at the screen.
He didn't listen.
Instead, he created a folder on his computer.
He named it:
EVIDENCE.
Every message.
Every email.
Every photograph.
Every suspicious incident.
Everything went inside.
Something had changed inside him.
He was no longer trying to convince his mother to respect boundaries.
He was preparing to prove why she had to be kept away.
For three days, nothing happened.
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And that silence almost convinced them they were safe.
Almost.
