Chapter 11 - THE ROOM BEHIND THE WALL A door slammed through the speakers.
Then came a child's breathing.
Fast.
Terrified.
Leo's younger voice.
"Please don't lock me in here."
Anna covered her mouth.
Richard held his son tighter.
Victoria closed her eyes.
The recording continued.
"You will stay where you belong."
Leo's voice cried.
"Where is my dad?"
Victoria answered:
"He doesn't want you."
Richard's face changed.
That sentence hurt more than anything else.
Because it explained every night Leo had spent believing he had been abandoned.
The recording continued.
"No one can hear you in the renovation wing."
Then came the words that made the mansion feel suddenly colder.
"If you tell your father, I'll make sure he joins you."
Richard clenched his fists.
Leo pressed his face against his father's chest.
"I'm sorry, Dad."
Richard immediately shook his head.
"No."
He kissed the boy's hair.
"You don't apologize."
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His voice trembled.
"None of this was your fault."
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