Chapter 2 - THE LITTLE BOY WITH THE BLUE CAST The hospital smelled of antiseptic, rain, and fear.
Victor sat beside Ethan's bed.
The toddler's tiny arm was wrapped in a blue cast.
Dr. Moreno stood near the foot of the bed.
“The fracture should heal,” he said. “But I need you to understand something.”
Victor looked up.
“What?”
“This wasn't an accidental injury.”
The doctor paused.
“There was twisting force.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
“How certain are you?”
“Very.”
Across the room, Lily sat quietly while a nurse examined the bruising on her stomach.
Victor finally turned toward her.
“You've been with Ethan for six months.”
“Yes.”
“Did Serena hurt him before tonight?”
Lily hesitated.
Victor waited.
“I saw bruises.”
“How many times?”
“Three.”
His eyes hardened.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“To whom?”
“Mrs. Vale.”
“And?”
Lily looked down.
“She said toddlers bruise easily.”
Victor stared at the floor.
“She threatened you?”
Lily nodded.
“My mother.”
Victor's expression changed.
“What about your mother?”
“She needs dialysis.”
“And Serena knew?”
Lily nodded.
“The Blackwood Foundation paid for her treatment.”
Victor went completely still.
“I never authorized that.”
“I know.”
Marco entered carrying a folder.
“Sir.”
Victor took it.
Inside were foundation transactions.
The payments to Lily's mother's treatment had indeed been authorized through Serena.
Not kindness.
Leverage.
“She bought your silence,” Victor said.
Lily looked at him.
“No.”
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“She bought my fear.”
That sentence stayed in Victor's mind.
Then Marco continued.
“Mrs. Vale is missing.”
Victor stood.
“How?”
“She escaped through the service tunnel.”
Victor knew that tunnel.
Only senior household staff knew it existed.
Then the investigators found something else.
The foyer camera had been disabled using Mrs. Vale's credentials.
The woman who had served the Blackwoods for twenty-two years had been protecting Serena.
A child-services investigator named Dana Brooks arrived before dawn.
She spoke gently to Lily.
“You don't have to protect anyone anymore.”
Lily looked at Ethan.
Then at Victor.
For once, Victor gave her no command.
No threat.
No pressure.
The decision belonged to her.
“Yes,” Lily whispered.
“I'll testify.”
Her statement lasted two hours.
She described the dragging.
The kick.
The bruises.
The threats.
Then she produced a bottle she had hidden.
Dr. Moreno examined it.
His face changed.
“This is a powerful sedative.”
Victor stared at the bottle.
“How much was Ethan receiving?”
“We don't know yet.”
Then Marco's phone rang.
They had found Mrs. Vale.
Alive.
She had been caught burning documents at Serena's condominium.
May you like
Victor looked at Lily.
“Bring me every page she failed to destroy.”
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