The Table That Remembered
Chapter 02 - The Table That Remembered
The glass table was not ordinary furniture.
It was an early prototype designed by Nora’s late father, Adrian Wells, founder of Wells Aegis Glass. The company developed impact-resistant architectural systems for hospitals, airports, and secure residences.
Every prototype contained a sealed sensor inside the frame.
If the glass registered a violent impact, the room’s local archive preserved the previous thirty minutes of audio and encrypted environmental data. The system could not be erased from the household panel.
Celeste knew about the visible cameras.
She did not know about the prototype table.
The archive captured everything.
Celeste demanding Nora’s signature.
Nora refusing to transfer her voting rights.
Celeste admitting that a physician had already written a diagnosis.
The shove.
The glass breaking.
The threat beside Nora’s dress.
Paramedics arrived and examined Nora. Her baby’s heartbeat was strong. She had bruising along one hip and a shallow scratch on her palm, but no major injury.
Lucas wanted to accompany her immediately.
Nora stopped him.
“Give Naomi the folder first.”
Inside were three documents.
A medical incapacity petition declaring Nora unable to manage financial decisions.
A proxy giving Celeste temporary voting authority over Wells Aegis Glass.
And an agreement authorizing a private clinic to control Nora’s visitors and medication until after the birth.
Lucas’s electronic signature appeared on the petition.
He stared at it.
“I never signed this.”
Celeste spoke from across the room.
“You signed the family protection packet last week.”
“I signed insurance forms.”
“You never read what I sent.”
May you like
The sentence was intended as defense.
Instead, it became confession.
