They Chose Her Over Me—Then Begged Me to Remember Them Chapter 08
The sound of the video echoed through the living room.
“Desmond’s so good to me. Don’t worry, this family’s going to be mine eventually.”
Everyone stood frozen, staring at that small screen.
Smack!
The slap rang out sharp and clear from the phone speaker.
“You’re such a waste. Mom and Dad are going to throw you out eventually anyway!”
Then the scream.
“Help! Rosalind’s trying to kill me!”
The video ended.
The living room was so quiet you could hear everyone breathing.
Mom stood at the front. Her expression went first to disbelief.
Then to blankness.
Then, finally, to a fear that made even her lips tremble.
She turned and looked at Della, standing in the corner.
Della’s face went white.
But only for a second.
The next moment, her eyes welled up red, her lips starting to quiver.
“That video’s fake! She must’ve installed some app on her phone and fabricate it!”
She grabbed Mom’s arm, crying.
“Mom, believe me, Rosalind pushed me first, why would I ever hit her-”
Desmond paused the video and zoomed in.
Froze the frame right on Della’s hand mid-slap.
“That bracelet on your wrist-Mom gave you that for the holidays. One of a kind, custom-made.”
His voice had gone cold, chilling.
“Want to take another look at what you were wearing that day? I personally embroidered that little bear
notif onto it!”
“You think AI can fake details like that?”
Desmond slammed the phone down on the coffee table.
“Della Sutter. What else do you have to say for yourself?”
Della’s mouth opened and closed. Nothing came out.
Mom slowly pulled her arm free from Della’s grip.
“So that day…”
Her voice was quiet. “You hit her first.
“You hit her, she pushed you back, and you fell on your own.”
“Then you screamed that she was trying to kill you.”
“I ran in. I saw you on the floor, and her standing there.”
“I didn’t ask a single question.”
“That same night, I had her sent away.”
Her voice kept getting quieter, until it was almost inaudible.
“A hundred days.”
“She spent a hundred days in that place.”
“She called and begged me. And I said… better she forgets.”
“She called you…”
She turned to look at Desmond. “And you told her she was making up stories.”
Desmond’s jaw clenched so hard the veins in his temple stood out.
Mom turned to Miles.
“She called you. And you wouldn’t even take her call.”
Miles stood against the wall, ashen, unable to say a single word.
“It was you!”
Mom’s gaze snapped back to Della, her voice thick with fury.
“You orchestrated this whole thing!”
Della took a step back.
“I didn’t! You people wouldn’t go get her! You signed the consent form yourselves!”
“What does any of that have to do with me? I only-”
Smack!
Mom’s slap landed on Della’s cheek.
Della’s head snapped sideways, hand flying to her cheek.
The wounded look in her eyes vanished in an instant.
What was left was pure ice.
“You hit me?”
She straightened up, glaring at Mom.
“How dare you hit me?”
“You admitted it yourself that you sent her away without asking a single question!”
“You’re the Chief of Psychiatry, and you couldn’t even tell whether your own daughter was actually sick!”
“You deserved this!”
Desmond lunged forward and grabbed Della’s wrist in a crushing grip.
“Say that again!”
Della struggled twice, couldn’t break free, and suddenly laughed
“I said you all deserved it!”
“Every single one of you was too busy being terrified of looking bad, too busy avoiding conflicts of interest.”
“The Chief of Psychiatry, scared people would say she was covering for her daughter. The child development expert, scared people would find out his sister was mentally ill. The lawyer, scared of losing his license.”
“All of you, so busy protecting yourselves-who was looking out for whether she lived or died?”
“I just gave her one push.”
“The ones who actually killed Rosalind Calloway-that was all of you!”
