Chapter 4 - The Voice from the Grave
The recording was dark, shot from a low angle on Clara’s bedside table.
Clara’s face filled the frame, illuminated by the harsh light of a reading lamp.
She looked emaciated, hollow-cheeked, and exhausted.
Her breathing was labored, a ragged rattle in her chest.
"If you are watching this," Clara’s voice said, trembling with fever.
"It means my heart finally stopped, and they told the world it was natural."
Several women in the pews burst into horrified tears.
Clara paused on the video, coughing weakly into a napkin.
"Three months ago, Helena offered to take over my evening herbal tea routine."
"She said it would help with my postpartum insomnia."
"Within two weeks, I lost the feeling in my fingertips."
"Then came the dizzy spells, the memory lapses, the terrifying chest pains."
The camera shifted slightly as Clara’s hand shook.
"I took a sample of the dried chamomile leaves from the pantry jar."
"I sent it privately to an independent toxicology lab in Boston under an alias."
"The results came back yesterday."
"Thallium. Pure, tasteless, odorless thallium rat poison."
A loud scream tore through the chapel.
It came from Clara’s childhood nanny, who collapsed onto a pew in sheer agony.
On screen, Clara turned her tear-stained face toward the camera lens.
"Helena didn’t act alone."
The entire room held its breath.
Julian’s knuckles went dead white as he clenched his fists.
"She’s doing this because of the family inheritance trust," Clara’s recorded voice continued.
"My grandfather's will stipulated that if I died before Bia turned eighteen..."
"Control of the Vance Global portfolio would default entirely to Helena."
"Unless my death was proven to be a homicide."
Helena was on her knees among the crushed lilies.
Her expensive mask had completely shattered.
"Turn it off!" Helena shrieked, her voice manic. "It’s deepfake AI! It’s not real!"
Ricardo held the phone higher, letting the audio reverberate.
"And there is one more thing," Clara’s dying voice whispered on the screen.
May you like
"Look under the false bottom of Helena’s vanity in the guest suite."
"The amber vial is still there."
