Chapter 2 - The Digital Paper Trail
Robert reached out with deliberate slowness. ""Hand me your phone.""
""Excuse me?"" Eleanor drew back, clutching her handbag against her tailored beige blouse. ""You will not treat me like a suspect on school grounds, Robert. I have sacrificed months organizing this weekend, ensuring everything went smoothly for your family.""
""Give me the phone, Eleanor."" His voice was neither loud nor rushed, but carried the weight of absolute finality.
Maya watched, frozen between despair and disbelief. For months, small discrepancies had piled up: misplaced letters, missed parent-teacher conferences, dinner reservations Robert supposedly canceled at the last minute. Every time, Eleanor had been the messenger, smoothing over the disappointment with practiced sympathy and a gentle sigh about Robert's demanding career.
""This is absurd,"" Eleanor scoffed, though her knuckles turned bloodless against the leather strap. ""You're humiliating both of us in front of your peers.""
Instead of arguing, Robert pulled his own device from his trouser pocket. He tapped into the family’s synchronized network drive, dialing directly into the registrar’s automated archive line using his trustee privileges. His jaw remained clenched as the line clicked through to the high school's emergency administrative contact.
""Dean Miller,"" Robert said directly into the speaker. ""This is Robert Walker. Yes, good evening. I am standing outside Hall C. I need immediate clarification on the commencement registry amendment submitted under my household account this morning.""
A pause stretched between them, thick with tension.
Dean Miller’s voice crackled clearly through the speaker: ""Robert? We received the signed consent document from your personal account at 7:15 AM today, verifying the removal of the paternal honorific and the revised seating chart per your family's request.""
Robert's eyes locked onto Eleanor. ""From my personal account?""
""Yes. Sent from your secondary home office IP address, attached with your digital signature.""
Eleanor swallowed hard, her composed veneer slipping into an uneasy grimace.
May you like
""Thank you, Arthur. Reinstate my daughter immediately,"" Robert said softly, ending the call. He lowered the phone, looking at the woman he had trusted for four years. ""You used my terminal.""
Eleanor didn't back down. Instead, her posture hardened into icy defiance. ""You think you're protecting her, Robert? You have no idea what she’s been planning behind your back.""
