Chapter 2
Victor stared at the maid.
Her name was Rosa.
She had worked in the Blackwood mansion for almost eleven years.
She had been there when Victor’s late wife, Claire, was still alive.
She had helped decorate the nursery before Ethan was born.
And in all those years, Victor had never seen Rosa look this frightened.
“What do you mean?” Victor asked.
Rosa gripped the railing.
Her hands were shaking.
Serena suddenly stepped forward.
“Victor, she’s confused.”
“Don’t.”
Victor’s voice stopped her cold.
He turned back to Rosa.
“Come downstairs.”
Rosa hesitated.
Her eyes moved toward Serena.
That tiny movement told Victor more than words could have.
Rosa was afraid of her.
Victor looked down at Ethan.
Lily had gathered the little boy into her arms.
He was sobbing against her chest while protecting his right arm.
Every cry cut into Victor.
He crouched beside them.
“Lily.”
She looked up.
Her cheek was red.
There was a small cut near her mouth.
“Did Serena hit you?”
Lily swallowed hard.
“Yes.”
Serena gasped.
“She attacked me first!”
Victor didn’t even look at her.
“Did Serena hurt Ethan?”
Lily’s eyes filled with tears.
“I tried to stop her.”
That answer was enough.
Victor reached for his phone.
Serena’s expression changed immediately.
“Who are you calling?”
“An ambulance.”
“He doesn’t need an ambulance.”
Victor finally looked at her.
Something in his face made Serena take a step back.
“My son has been screaming in pain for five minutes.”
“It was an accident.”
“You just said Lily did it.”
Serena froze.
Victor’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“So which is it?”
Serena opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Victor called emergency services.
Then he called the head of mansion security.
“Daniel.”
“Yes, Mr. Blackwood?”
“Lock the gates.”
Silence.
Then Daniel replied, “Sir?”
“Nobody leaves this property.”
Serena’s face drained of color.
“Victor, you’re being ridiculous.”
Victor ignored her.
“Restore every camera feed. Back up every recording from the last six months. Nobody deletes anything.”
Daniel’s tone changed instantly.
“Understood.”
Serena moved toward the hallway.
Victor stepped into her path.
“Where are you going?”
“To my room.”
“No.”
Her eyes widened.
“This is my home too.”
“No,” Victor said. “It isn’t.”
The words landed like a slap.
Rosa had reached the bottom of the stairs now.
Victor pointed toward the sitting room.
“Tell me everything.”
Rosa glanced at Serena again.
Victor noticed.
“Serena will not touch you.”
“She’s lying,” Serena snapped.
Victor’s head turned sharply.
“Say another word before Rosa finishes, and I’ll have security remove you.”
Serena stared at him.
For once, she said nothing.
Rosa slowly sat down.
“I should have told you sooner.”
Victor’s stomach tightened.
“Tell me now.”
Rosa wiped tears from her face.
“It started around three months ago.”
Victor remembered.
Three months ago was when Serena had moved into the mansion permanently.
“At first, she was impatient with Ethan,” Rosa said. “When he cried, she would complain. When he reached for you, she’d say he was spoiled.”
Victor clenched his jaw.
“Then?”
“She started ordering Lily to leave the nursery.”
Lily nodded.
“She said she wanted bonding time with Ethan.”
Victor looked at Lily.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
His heart stopped.
“When?”
“Four weeks ago. You were leaving for Zurich.”
Victor remembered that morning.
Lily had approached him near the front door.
Before she could speak, Serena had come downstairs and announced the driver was waiting.
Victor had said they would talk when he returned.
They never had.
Lily looked down.
“After you left, she told me if I ever complained about her again, she’d make sure I never worked for another wealthy family.”
Serena laughed nervously.
“This is absurd.”
Victor turned.
“Security.”
Two guards entered immediately.
Serena’s smile vanished.
“Stand beside her,” Victor ordered.
They did.
Rosa continued.
“Sometimes she pinched Ethan when he cried.”
Victor went still.
“Where?”
“His legs. His arms. Places covered by clothes.”
Lily’s voice broke.
“I found bruises.”
Victor looked at her.
“You found bruises on my son?”
“I photographed them.”
Serena lunged toward Lily.
“You little—”
One security guard caught her arm.
Victor’s expression changed completely.
“Don’t touch her.”
Serena jerked free.
“This is a setup!”
Lily pulled out her phone.
“I have dates.”
She opened a hidden album.
Victor took the phone.
The first photograph showed a purple mark on Ethan’s thigh.
The next showed three finger-shaped bruises near his upper arm.
Another showed redness around his wrist.
Victor felt sick.
Each picture had a date.
Each date corresponded to a day Serena had been alone with Ethan.
“How long?” Victor whispered.
“Six weeks,” Lily said.
Victor closed his eyes.
Six weeks.
He had been sleeping ten doors away.
Eating breakfast with Serena.
Planning a wedding.
While his son was being hurt under his own roof.
An ambulance siren sounded outside.
Victor immediately turned toward Ethan.
But Rosa wasn’t finished.
“Sir.”
Victor looked back.
Rosa was crying harder now.
“There’s more.”
Something about her tone made everyone silent.
“What?”
Rosa looked toward Serena.
“She’s been going into Mrs. Blackwood’s old room.”
Victor’s breathing stopped.
Claire’s room had remained locked since her death.
Only Victor had the key.
“What did you say?”
“I saw her coming out two weeks ago.”
“That’s impossible.”
Rosa shook her head.
“She had a key.”
Victor slowly looked at Serena.
“Where did you get it?”
“I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
Victor stepped closer.
“Where did you get the key to Claire’s room?”
Serena crossed her arms.
“I never went in there.”
Rosa spoke quietly.
“I followed her once.”
Serena whipped around.
Rosa flinched.
Victor noticed.
“What did you see?”
Rosa’s lips trembled.
“She was looking through Mrs. Blackwood’s papers.”
Victor felt cold.
“What papers?”
“Medical records.”
Victor’s face changed.
Claire had died eighteen months earlier after suddenly collapsing at home.
Doctors said an undiagnosed heart condition had caused a fatal rhythm disturbance.
Serena had been Claire’s close friend.
She had comforted Victor after the funeral.
Months later, that friendship became something more.
Now Victor stared at the woman he planned to marry.
“You were inside Claire’s room?”
“No.”
Rosa shook her head.
“Yes.”
“Shut up!” Serena screamed.
The security guards moved instantly.
Victor stepped between Serena and Rosa.
“Enough.”
Paramedics entered the mansion.
Lily carried Ethan toward them.
Victor started to follow.
Then Rosa grabbed his sleeve.
“There’s one other thing.”
Victor looked down.
“What?”
Rosa glanced toward the second floor.
“Mrs. Blackwood kept a private journal.”
Victor remembered it.
Claire wrote every night.
After her death, Victor had searched for it.
He never found it.
Rosa whispered:
“I think Serena found it.”
Victor looked at Serena.
Serena looked toward the front door.
That was all he needed to see.
“Search her room,” Victor ordered.
Serena screamed.
“You have no right!”
Victor turned toward security.
“Every drawer. Every bag. Every box.”
Then he followed his son out of the mansion.
But twenty minutes later, while Victor sat beside Ethan inside the emergency room, his phone rang.
It was Daniel.
Victor answered immediately.
“What did you find?”
Daniel was silent for several seconds.
“Sir…”
“What?”
“We found Mrs. Blackwood’s journal.”
Victor closed his eyes.
Then Daniel continued.
“And something else.”
Victor’s hand tightened around the phone.
“What?”
“A bottle of medication.”
Victor opened his eyes.
“What medication?”
Daniel took a breath.
“The prescription label has been removed.”
Victor looked through the glass at his crying son.
May you like
His blood ran cold.
“Call the police.”
