Chapter 8 - The Room Beneath the Lake House They found blood.
Chains.
Medical restraints.
And children's toys.
Lily nearly vomited.
Maya Torres was found alive behind a concealed wall.
She had survived six months in darkness.
When Lily approached, Maya whispered:
“You stayed.”
“What?”
“With Ethan.”
Maya began crying.
“I prayed somebody stayed.”
Her testimony completed the pattern.
Serena sedated Ethan.
Mrs. Vale hid the bruises.
Anthony controlled the money.
But somebody else supplied medical records and security schedules.
Maya had heard a name.
Dominic.
Victor's cousin.
The respectable Blackwood.
The man who publicly condemned Victor's criminal reputation.
The man investors trusted.
The man waiting to take control if Victor fell.
Then investigators opened a hidden safe.
Inside was a USB drive labeled:
WEDDING DAY.
The first video showed Serena standing inside the Blackwood chapel.
The second showed Isabella unconscious.
The third showed Ethan.
Then Serena looked directly into the camera.
“If Victor finds this before the wedding, begin Protocol Seven.”
Nobody knew what Protocol Seven meant.
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Until every alarm in Victor's mansion began ringing simultaneously.
The nursery was on fire.
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