Chapter 2 - THE FIRST LIESerena lunged for Lily.
Marco caught her wrist before she could reach her.
“Let go of me!”
Victor didn't move.
“You were crying a moment ago.”
Serena stared at him.
“I'm scared.”
“Of what?”
Her eyes moved toward Lily.
“Her.”
Lily pushed herself against a marble column.
“She's lying.”
She held up the tiny camera.
“It's a nanny camera. I bought it after Ethan started waking up with bruises.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
“Bruises?”
Lily nodded.
“His upper arms. His back. Sometimes his shoulder.”
Victor looked toward Ethan.
The child had stopped crying.
He was staring at the floor.
Lily continued softly.
“I tried telling you.”
“Why didn't I hear you?”
“Because every message I sent was intercepted.”
Victor's expression changed.
“By whom?”
“Your assistant.”
“Which assistant?”
Marco answered.
“Julian Cole.”
Silence fell.
Julian had worked for Victor for five years.
He knew his schedule.
His passwords.
His business dealings.
His private meetings.
More importantly, Julian was Serena's cousin.
At the hospital, doctors confirmed Ethan had suffered a fractured arm.
Lily had two badly bruised ribs.
The pediatrician examined Ethan's older injuries and frowned.
“This isn't from one accident.”
Victor stared through the observation window.
His son looked impossibly small beneath the white blanket.
Serena stood behind him.
“Babies fall,” she whispered.
Victor turned slowly.
“Not like this.”
Detective Mara Quinn arrived shortly before midnight.
She was a compact woman with silver hair at her temples and the expression of someone who had spent twenty years watching powerful people discover that money couldn't buy innocence.
Victor handed her the camera.
“Play it.”
Quinn inserted the device.
The memory card was missing.
Serena smiled faintly.
“Convenient.”
Quinn looked at her.
“Very.”
Before anyone could speak, a young maid stepped forward.
Her hands were shaking.
“Mr. Blackwood?”
Victor turned.
“I saw Mr. Cole enter the nursery this morning.”
“Why?”
“He took something from the camera.”
Victor's eyes hardened.
Then every light in the mansion went out.
Ethan began crying again.
May you like
And from somewhere inside the darkness came a man's voice.
“Give me the card.”
Related Stories
