Chapter 2 - The Recorder Under the TableVictor found the recorder beneath the hallway table.
Small.
Black.
Cracked along one corner.
Lily’s heart stopped.
She had purchased it three months earlier after noticing unexplained bruises on Ethan.
Victor pressed PLAY.
Static.
Ethan crying.
Then Serena’s unmistakable voice.
“You think anyone will believe a cheap nanny over me?”
Nobody moved.
Serena's face emptied of color.
Victor stopped the recording.
“Marco.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Lock the gates.”
Serena laughed nervously.
“You can't be serious.”
Victor looked at her.
“I haven't decided how serious I am.”
He carried Ethan outside.
At the hospital, doctors confirmed the injury wasn't accidental.
Someone had twisted the toddler’s arm violently.
Victor sat beside the little blue hospital bed for almost an hour without speaking.
Then he turned toward Lily.
“How long?”
She understood immediately.
“Months.”
Victor stood.
“What?”
“I noticed bruises months ago.”
“And you didn't tell me?”
Lily laughed bitterly.
“When?”
His expression hardened.
“When you were in New York? Miami? London?”
She stepped closer.
“Or should I have told you during one of the twelve minutes you spent with your son before Serena entered the room?”
Victor had probably never been spoken to that way.
Marco looked ready to intervene.
Victor stopped him.
“Continue.”
Lily swallowed.
“She threatened my mother.”
“What does your mother have to do with this?”
“Her medical treatment.”
Victor frowned.
“The Blackwood Foundation pays for it.”
“No.”
Lily shook her head.
“Serena does.”
Victor went still.
He had never authorized it.
Then Marco entered carrying his phone.
“Sir, we have another problem.”
“What?”
“Mrs. Vale is gone.”
The Blackwood housekeeper had worked for Victor's family for twenty-three years.
She also controlled the mansion’s security system.
Including the camera that mysteriously stopped recording tonight.
Victor looked toward the hospital window.
“Find her.”
Marco hesitated.
“We already did.”
“Where?”
“At Serena’s condominium.”
“What was she doing?”
May you like
Marco looked directly at Lily.
“Burning documents.”
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