Chapter 2 - THE FIRST LIESerena lunged.
Marco caught her wrist.
“Let go!”
Victor didn't move.
“You were crying a moment ago.”
“I’m scared!”
“Of what?”
“That woman.”
Lily pushed herself against the marble column.
“She’s lying.”
She raised the device.
“It’s a nanny camera. I bought it after Ethan started waking up with bruises.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“Bruises?”
Lily nodded.
“Upper arms. Back of his legs. Sometimes his shoulder.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I tried.”
Her voice cracked.
“Every message I sent was answered by your assistant. He said you were traveling and that I should follow Serena's instructions.”
Victor turned.
“Which assistant?”
Marco answered.
“Julian Cole.”
Silence.
Julian was Serena's cousin.
He had controlled Victor's private schedule for five years.
At the hospital, doctors confirmed Ethan had a fractured arm.
Lily had two bruised ribs.
The physician examined Ethan's older injuries.
“This isn't from one accident,” she said quietly.
Victor stared through the glass.
His son looked impossibly small beneath the white blanket.
Serena kept repeating the same sentence.
“Babies fall.”
Detective Mara Quinn arrived before midnight.
She was a compact woman with silver at her temples and the expression of someone who had seen too many wealthy people believe money could erase evidence.
Victor handed her the camera.
“Play it.”
The memory card was missing.
Serena smiled.
“Convenient.”
Detective Quinn looked at her.
“Very.”
Then a young maid appeared.
Tessa.
Her hands were shaking.
“Mr. Blackwood?”
Victor turned.
“I saw Mr. Cole enter the nursery this morning.”
“Why?”
“He took something from the camera.”
Before anyone could answer—
Every light in the mansion went out.
Ethan began to cry.
May you like
And somewhere in the darkness, a man whispered:
“Give me the card.”
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