Chapter 2: The Woman Behind the Wealth
I couldn’t breathe.
Someone had been watching us.
Someone had been watching me.
I looked around the hallway, searching for a camera, a person, anything.
But the mansion remained full of music and laughter.
The guests continued drinking champagne.
Nobody knew that only twenty feet away, a child was trapped behind a painting.
Victoria noticed my expression.
“You received a message,” she said.
It wasn’t a question.
My fingers tightened around my phone.
“How do you know?””
She looked toward the ceiling.
Tiny cameras were hidden among the decorations.
“I know everything that happens inside my home.””
The way she said it made my stomach twist.
The little girl behind me started crying quietly.
Victoria looked at her.
“Emma, stop.””
The girl immediately went silent.
That frightened me more than anything.
Not the rope.
Not the hidden room.
The obedience.
A child shouldn’t look that afraid of someone.
“Her name is Emma?”” I asked.
Victoria didn’t answer.
I stepped closer.
“Who is she?””
Victoria placed her glass on a nearby table.
“She is my daughter.””
The words hit me harder than I expected.
I stared at her.
“Your daughter?””
“Yes.””
“Then why is she hidden behind a wall?””
Her jaw tightened.
“That is not your concern.””
I almost laughed.
A little girl was tied up in a secret room, and she was telling me it wasn’t my concern.
“You locked your own child away.””
Victoria’s eyes became colder.
“You don’t know the situation.””
“Then explain it.””
For the first time, anger flashed across her face.
“She has a condition.””
I looked back at Emma.
The girl shook her head.
“No.””
It was quiet.
But I heard it.
Victoria heard it too.
“Emma.””
The girl lowered her eyes.
I knelt beside her.
“What condition?””
Emma whispered.
“I’m not sick.””
Victoria stepped forward.
“Enough.””
I stood up.
“No. Not enough.””
The hallway suddenly felt smaller.
The rich guests, the expensive decorations, the beautiful mansion—all of it felt fake.
Like a perfect painting hiding something rotten behind it.
Victoria reached into her purse and pulled out a small envelope.
She held it toward me.
“What is that?””
“Money.””
I stared at it.
“A bribe?””
“A solution.””
I pushed it away.
“I don’t want your money.””
Her expression changed.
Not anger.
Fear.
A tiny crack in the powerful woman’s mask.
“You should.””
“Why?””
She looked toward the ballroom.
“Because if the wrong people find out Emma is here, this becomes much worse.””
“Who are the wrong people?””
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she walked toward the hidden room.
“Claire, you think you are saving a child. But you may be putting her in danger.””
Emma looked at me.
Her lips trembled.
“She’s lying.””
Victoria stopped.
The little girl continued.
“She always says that.””
I looked between them.
“What does she always say?””
Emma swallowed.
“She says everyone who tries to help me disappears.””
A chill moved through my body.
Victoria immediately reached for the painting.
“Your shift is over.””
I blocked her hand.
“No.””
The word surprised both of us.
“I’m calling the police.””
Victoria stared at me.
Then she slowly smiled.
“Go ahead.””
I grabbed my phone.
But before I could dial, another message appeared.
This time, it was a video.
My hands shook as I opened it.
The footage showed Victoria walking into the hidden room three nights earlier.
But she wasn’t alone.
There was another man with her.
A man I recognized.
The head of security for the Whitmore estate.
And in the video, he was carrying a folder labeled:
*EMMA WHITMORE — DISAPPEARANCE RECORDS*
I looked up.
Victoria was watching my face.
“You were never supposed to see that.””
The mansion lights suddenly flickered.
Then every door in the hallway locked at once.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Victoria whispered one sentence.
“The person who sent you that video is inside this house.””
And from somewhere behind us…
May you like
a man’s voice answered.
“She finally figured it out.””
