Chapter 8 - The Full VideoThe full video arrived at 3:17 p.m.

Nathan waited until Emma was building blocks in the living room before he opened it.

The clip began ten minutes before Patricia’s edited post.

Nathan appeared at the door carrying Emma. She was smiling then, shy but happy, her teddy bear tucked under one arm.

Rachel stood beside the cake.

Emma waved.

“Mommy!”

Rachel looked like she wanted to step forward, but Patricia touched her arm.

Not a hug.

A warning.

Then Patricia approached Nathan.

In the edited version, her voice was soft.

In the full version, it was sharp enough to cut glass.

“You were told to let her walk in,” Patricia said. “You always have to perform fatherhood.”

Nathan’s recorded voice was calm. “She asked me to carry her.”

“She’s five. She asks for candy too. You don’t have to indulge everything.”

Emma’s smile disappeared.

Nathan shifted her closer. “This is her birthday. Can we not do this?”

Patricia stepped closer, finger raised.

“This is exactly the problem. You control the mood of every room. Rachel is trying to move forward, and you keep dragging that child backward.”

The room went silent.

Someone whispered, “Patricia…”

She ignored them.

“Mason is willing to be more of a father than you ever learned to be.”

Emma buried her face in Nathan’s jacket.

Nathan’s voice dropped.

“No.”

That single word changed the atmosphere.

Patricia blinked. “Excuse me?”

“No,” Nathan repeated. “You don’t speak about me like that in front of my daughter.”

Rachel whispered, “Nathan, please.”

Patricia snapped, “See? This is what I mean. He can’t handle a family conversation.”

Nathan looked around at the guests. No one moved.

Then he turned and walked out.

The video followed him to the door.

Rachel’s voice called weakly behind him.

“Nathan…”

Then Patricia said the line she had cut from her post.

“Let him go. The judge will love this.”

Nathan stopped the video.

His pulse thundered in his ears.

The judge will love this.

It had not been an emotional moment.

It had been planned evidence.

Nathan forwarded the file to Lena, then saved three copies.

That night, Patricia’s edited video was still spreading.

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