The Shadow Before the Ring
Chapter 4 - The Interrogation Room
The observation glass was cold against Ethan’s forehead as he watched Meredith sit in the small, metal-chair room under the harsh glare of an overhead bulb.
She wasn't crying.
She wasn't yelling.
She sat with her hands neatly folded on the metal table, staring directly into the camera lens with a calm, predatory curiosity.
Detective Cole stepped into the room, her voice crackling through the wall speaker.
“Meredith, we have the Evanston footage, the hidden cameras from two separate residences, and financial transfer logs linking your father’s accounts to the alias you used four years ago.”
Meredith shifted slightly in her chair.
“My father protects his investments,” she said smoothly, her voice chillingly composed. “And Ethan was simply... unmanaged. A grieving man with a daughter is like an open vault.”
“You poisoned a child's environment,” Cole said, her voice rising with restrained fury. “You terrorized a four-year-old to build a paper trail of instability.”
“I gave her structure,” Meredith corrected with a chilling smile. “Children need boundaries. And Ethan needed someone who understood how to run a proper household, not a ghost haunting a photo frame.”
Ethan stepped away from the glass.
He had heard enough.
