Chapter 6 - Belladonna says she was testing us
Through attorney Claire Donovan, Belladonna gave a limited statement.
She admitted hiring Harlow.
Purpose:
Test Costello security.
She said:
“I could not tell Valerian because then the test would be meaningless.”
Maybe.
Then anonymous messages.
She admitted sending the first two.
Not as threats.
As simulated alerts.
“What?”
I almost stood during deposition.
Her lawyer stopped escalation with a look.
Belladonna said:
“I wanted him to see how easily images could be obtained.”
“Why pretend an enemy sent them?”
“Because he dismisses hypothetical risks.”
There.
Then the ribbon package.
She denied.
Black SUV.
Denied.
Were those genuine?
Maybe.
Or another layer.
Then Atlas Sentinel.
Belladonna said:
“My brother’s company was the only team I trusted to fix what I proved was broken.”
Conflict.
Then Eira.
Did she lock her in dining room?
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“Usually twenty minutes.”
“Every night?”
“Seven nights.”
Eira had said every night.
Four-year-old generalization.
Logs later supported seven of eleven.
Then food.
“I did not starve her.”
True medically.
“Why burned food?”
“She threw normal meals.”
Did she?
One night Eira knocked over soup.
Another refused meat.
Not every night.
Then Belladonna admitted:
She intentionally overcooked some meals after Eira refused instructions.
Why?
“Consequences.”
“What instructions?”
Security compliance.
Sit.
Stay quiet.
Do not leave room until released.
Do not scream when doors lock.
That sounded like training a hostage.
Belladonna called it:
“Protective conditioning.”
No licensed child psychologist recommended it.
No pediatrician.
No security professional.
Caleb had specifically said:
“We do not train a four-year-old through fear.”
Then Belladonna:
“Caleb has never had a child targeted by organized criminals.”
Neither had Belladonna.
She had stories.
Fear.
Ambition.
Then she said:
“If Valerian throws me out, the threats become real again.”
That sentence interested Detective Jensen.
“Again?”
Belladonna corrected:
“They remain real.”
Small language shift.
May you like
Not proof.
But people reveal assumptions in verbs.
