Chapter 1 - No Pizza for the Birthday Girl
"Daddy, I was hungry."
That was the first thing seven-year-old Sophie said when Daniel Sutton found her on the kitchen floor.
Not at the table.
Not beside the birthday cake he had ordered that morning.
On the cold tile, beside the dog's empty water bowl, wearing her pink birthday dress and crying so quietly it was worse than screaming.
Daniel stopped in the doorway.
Claire, his new wife, sat at the island eating pizza.
He looked from her plate to his daughter.
"Sophie?"
She lifted her face.
"She said I couldn't have dinner."
Daniel dropped the gift bag in his hand.
"What?"
He crossed the room and fell to his knees beside her. Sophie threw both arms around his neck.
Claire slowly lowered her slice.
"Daniel, please don't make this dramatic."
He looked at her.
"It's her birthday."
"She had a tantrum."
"I didn't!" Sophie cried.
Daniel held her tighter.
"What did she do?"
Sophie whispered against his shoulder, "She said bad girls don't get pizza."
Claire stood.
"It was a time-out. I was going to feed her later."
"You do not use food as punishment," he said.
Claire's face tightened.
"You undermine me every time I try to set a boundary."
"She is seven."
"Exactly. And she knows crying gets her what she wants from you."
Sophie flinched.
Daniel noticed how fast she looked down afterward, as if even being seen react might get her in trouble. He remembered the strange apologies, the way she had started asking permission before touching snacks, and the nights she claimed she was not hungry. He had called it a phase. Standing there now, he realized how badly he had wanted ordinary explanations.
Daniel saw it.
That tiny movement cut through him.
"Sophie," he said softly, "has Claire done this before?"
Claire stepped forward.
"Daniel."
Sophie did not answer.
Her silence was enough.
Daniel stood.
He remembered the security system in the basement. Six months earlier, Claire had said the monitoring hub failed after a power surge.
He pulled out his phone.
The live cameras showed OFFLINE.
Daniel pointed down the hall.
"You said the system was broken. The recorder is downstairs."
Claire went white.
Then she grabbed his shirt.
"Daniel, don't."
He looked at her hand.
"Let go."
"You don't know what you'll see."
Daniel slowly removed her fingers from his shirt.
"That's exactly why I'm going."
Sophie suddenly grabbed his wrist.
"Daddy?"
He turned.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"Don't let her delete my birthday."
Daniel looked at Claire.
May you like
For the first time, Claire looked afraid.
And when he opened the basement door, someone was already down there.
