Chapter 1
Victor did not question Serena again.
Not yet.
He carried Ethan out of the nursery while Lily followed close behind.
The boy kept his left arm pressed against his chest.
Victor noticed the swelling near the elbow.
“Did Serena do that?”
Ethan buried his face against Victor’s shoulder.
Lily stepped in carefully.
“Mr. Blackwood, he was already protecting that arm when I found him.”
Serena immediately objected.
“Because she hurt him earlier.”
Victor turned.
“You said you caught Lily dragging him.”
“I did.”
“When?”
“Before you came in.”
Lily stared at her.
“That’s a lie.”
Adrian, still recovering beside the collapsed puppet theater, laughed.
“Of course the maid says that.”
Victor ignored him.
He told one bodyguard to call Ethan’s pediatrician and another to secure the nursery camera system.
Serena’s expression changed.
Only for a second.
That was enough.
Victor had installed cameras after Ethan’s mother, Grace, died from cancer sixteen months earlier. Lily had been Grace’s preferred caregiver during the final months of her illness, and Ethan trusted her more than almost anyone.
Serena had complained about the cameras.
She said they made her feel like a guest being watched in the home she was about to join.
Victor had refused to remove them.
Now he was grateful.
Until the security supervisor returned.
“There’s a problem.”
Victor looked at him.
“The camera is live now.”
“And earlier?”
“There are gaps.”
Victor’s eyes moved toward Serena.
“How many?”
The supervisor checked the tablet.
“Tonight? Twenty-three minutes missing before you entered.”
Serena immediately spoke.
“This system glitches constantly.”
The supervisor shook his head.
“No, ma’am.”
Adrian stopped moving.
The supervisor continued.
“The recording was manually disabled.”
Victor looked at Ethan’s injured arm.
Then at Serena.
Then Adrian.
May you like
The camera could tell him what happened after it came back online.
But someone had made sure it could not show him how his son got hurt.
