Chapter 7 - The Pink Music Box
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Damian carried Lily upstairs himself.
A detective followed.
So did Richard.
Celia remained downstairs with another officer.
Elena’s old bedroom had barely changed.
Damian could still smell the faint lavender perfume she used to wear.
For a moment, he couldn’t move.
Lily slipped from his arms.
She walked to a low bookcase.
Then she pulled out three children’s books.
Behind them was a small pink music box.
Damian recognized it.
He had given it to Elena when she was seven.
Lily opened the lid.
No jewelry.
No music.
Just a black smartphone wrapped in a child’s sock.
Richard exhaled.
“My God.”
Damian stared at the phone.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Lily’s eyes filled.
“Aunt Celia said Mommy stole it.”
Damian knelt immediately.
“No, baby.”
“She said if I told you, the police would take me away.”
Damian pressed his forehead gently to hers.
“That was a lie.”
The detective put on gloves and bagged the phone.
“Do you know the passcode?”
Lily nodded.
“Mommy’s birthday.”
Richard looked at Damian.
“If this turns on, don’t touch anything.”
The phone was taken downstairs and connected to a forensic charging device.
Minutes passed.
Then the screen lit up.
Damian gripped the edge of the desk.
The wallpaper appeared.
Elena holding Lily as a toddler.
Both laughing.
Damian turned away.
He couldn’t let Lily see him break.
The detective entered the passcode.
It worked.
Hundreds of messages.
Photos.
Voice recordings.
Notes.
But the last outgoing message stopped everyone.
It was addressed to Celia.
Three days before Elena died.
I know what you did with the foundation account. Dad deserves the truth. Meet me Friday and bring every statement.
Celia read it from across the room.
Her face hardened.
“That proves nothing.”
“No,” Richard said.
“But it proves Elena confronted you.”
The detective scrolled carefully.
There was a reply.
Celia:
You always think you’re better than me. Be careful what you threaten when your own life isn’t perfect.
Damian’s eyes lifted.
Celia scoffed.
“It was an argument.”
Then the detective found a voice memo recorded the morning Elena died.
Forty-seven seconds.
Damian’s hand hovered above the desk.
He was suddenly terrified to hear his daughter’s voice.
Richard spoke quietly.
“You don’t have to play it now.”
Damian looked at Lily.
Then at Celia.
“Yes.”
He pressed play.
Elena’s voice filled the study.
Calm.
Tired.
Alive.
“If Dad ever hears this, it means I waited too long to tell him.”
Damian stopped breathing.
Then Elena said:
“Celia isn’t just taking money.”
Celia lunged toward the phone.
Two officers grabbed her.
“Turn it off!”
Damian stared at her.
Elena’s recording continued.
“She’s trying to get access to Lily.”
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👉 Elena had recorded exactly what she feared Celia was planning—and Celia was willing to fight the police to keep Damian from hearing the rest.
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