A Mother's Love, A Daughter's Fury

oy, it was Charlotte' s key to my f

voice a perfect mix of panic and professionalism. She looked at my father

arlotte, his new, brilliant assistant. He built his tech empire, Sterling Dyna

t was the voice he used for disappointing q

oice sounded small in the vast, sterile

not a project. It' s a hobby." He motioned around the lab, at the sleek, minimalist desig

orld. He put a comforting hand on Charlotte' s shou

ided by her fathe

h a few thousand dollars, as his excuse. It was

Eleanor Vance, stood in the foyer, a pillar of quiet dignity. She was a genius, a pioneer in AI ethics, but she was also an in

needed "specialized care." He said it with a tone of grave concern

. She looked back at me just once, her eyes holding a universe of love and a quiet, desperate plea. Th

eart pounding against my ribs. He

is voice smooth as silk. "A clean

derstand. Be

f servers and the scent of old books, was locked. I felt like a ghost in my own home.

data drive. I plugged it into my laptop. It was heavily encrypted, but files were slowly leaking from it, corrupted and fragmented. They were just scraps of data, lin

stopping to put on shoes. I had to find

long, winding driveway to the main road. I saw it then, his self-driving luxury vehicle, parked just o

my mother should have occupied, was Charlotte Hayes. She raised her glass to his, he

lass, my palms stinging. "Dad

w inches. My father' s fa

s spectacle? Go ba

drive. "I found this. Something is wrong. Mom

ith fake concern. "Richard, darling, maybe we

has been filling her head with nonsense for years, making her unstable.

ny warmth. "Your mother is fine, Ava. Go home

way, its electric motor a faint hum as it disappeare

ffice that he was "handling it" and would be home "soon." A week of

emote part of the state park, miles from any road. T

rld we

The door opened and my father stepped out, followed by Charlotte. She was wearing a new dress, a designer

e. He didn't know the world was about to crash down on h

, his face a thunde

stone portico. "Has your mother learned her les

began to stream down my face. M

ormal address feeling like a