Chapter 2
Sarah stared at the message until the screen went dark.
Margaret struck the door again.
“Open it immediately.”
Sarah slipped the phone into her pocket.
She could not let Margaret see her fear.
Not yet.
She unlocked the nursery door but kept Leo against her chest.
Margaret entered without waiting.
“What kind of employee locks the owner of the house out?”
“The kind who was told to protect a baby.”
Margaret’s eyes settled on Leo.
His face was no longer red, but his body remained tense.
“Give him to me.”
“No.”
Margaret drew herself upright.
“I am his grandmother.”
“And I don’t know whether you’re here to help Victoria.”
Margaret’s mouth tightened.
“You are dangerously close to forgetting your place.”
“My place is wherever Leo is safe.”
“You think affection gives you authority.”
“No. What I witnessed gives me a responsibility.”
Margaret looked toward the main camera.
“The system failed. There is no evidence.”
Sarah kept her expression blank.
“Maybe evidence exists somewhere else.”
The older woman studied her.
For the first time, Sarah saw uncertainty behind Margaret’s cold eyes.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Victoria wasn’t as careful as she thought.”
Margaret reached into her handbag.
Sarah expected a phone.
Instead, Margaret pulled out a folded check.
She placed it on the changing table.
The amount was fifty thousand dollars.
“Take Leo to the garden,” she said. “When Ethan returns, tell him you overreacted. Then leave Charlotte tonight.”
Sarah looked at the check.
“You’re bribing me.”
“I am protecting my family.”
“From the truth?”
“From a scandal.”
“Your grandson was attacked.”
“No lasting harm was done.”
Sarah stared at her.
“That’s what you tell yourself?”
Margaret’s gaze hardened.
“You have worked here for four years. We paid your mother’s medical bills. We allowed you to live on this property after your divorce. Do not pretend this family has been cruel to you.”
“Ethan helped my mother because she cared for him when he was a child.”
“And now you repay him by destroying the only agreement capable of saving his company.”
Sarah picked up the check.
Margaret smiled faintly.
Then Sarah tore it in half.
She tore it again.
The pieces fell onto the floor.
“If the company can only be saved by marrying a woman who abuses his son, it deserves to fail.”
Margaret raised her cane.
For one shocking second, Sarah thought she would strike her.
But a voice came through the nursery speaker.
“Sarah?”
Ethan.
The backup intercom had activated from his car.
Sarah moved toward it.
“I’m here.”
“Is Leo all right?”
“He’s calmer.”
“Put my mother on.”
Margaret’s face went pale.
Sarah pressed the speaker button.
“He wants you.”
Margaret approached.
“Ethan, the meeting—”
“I heard what you offered Sarah.”
Margaret glanced at the intercom.
She had forgotten it transmitted automatically when his account connected.
“I was trying to prevent an employee from making reckless accusations.”
“You offered her fifty thousand dollars to lie.”
“To protect you.”
“Leave the nursery.”
“Ethan.”
“Now.”
Margaret gripped her cane.
Humiliation burned across her face.
She walked toward the door, then paused beside Sarah.
“You have no idea what you’ve started.”
Sarah met her eyes.
“No. Victoria started it.”
Margaret left.
Ethan remained on the speaker.
“Lock the door again.”
Sarah did.
“What happened at the meeting?” she asked.
“Victoria refused to unlock her phone.”
“That tells you something.”
“It tells me she’s hiding something. It doesn’t tell me what.”
“Did you contact Dr. Morris?”
“He’s on his way.”
“Ethan, I received a message.”
She read the words aloud.
Silence followed.
“Take a screenshot,” he said. “Send it to me.”
“Who knew Mia?”
“Everyone in the house.”
“Who knew she disappeared?”
“Sarah, stay away from the windows.”
Her skin went cold.
“Why?”
“Because Victoria left the conference room five minutes ago.”
“What?”
“She said she needed the restroom. The security camera shows her using the service stairs.”
“Is she coming back here?”
“I don’t know.”
“Call the police.”
“I already did.”
Sarah looked at the nursery windows.
Beyond them stretched the estate’s east lawn, bordered by trees.
A figure moved near the hedge.
Sarah pulled the curtains shut.
Leo whimpered.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, though she no longer believed it.
A loud crash came from downstairs.
Then the alarm began to sound.
Sarah grabbed the diaper bag.
She placed Leo inside his portable carrier and strapped him against her body.
The nursery had one exit.
If someone came through the door, she would be trapped.
She opened the window.
A narrow maintenance balcony ran beneath it.
“Ethan,” she whispered into the speaker. “Someone is inside.”
“Police are three minutes away.”
Another crash sounded.
Closer.
Sarah climbed onto the balcony with Leo secured to her chest.
Cold air struck her face.
She shut the window behind her and moved toward the ladder at the far end.
The nursery door burst open.
Through the glass, Sarah saw a man wearing black gloves and a gray mask.
He searched the room.
Then he noticed the open curtain.
Their eyes met through the window.
He rushed forward.
Sarah climbed over the balcony rail.
The ladder shook beneath her feet.
Leo began crying.
The masked man forced the window open.
“Stop!” he shouted.
Sarah descended faster.
Her shoe slipped.
For one terrible second, she hung by one hand.
Leo screamed against her chest.
Sarah found the next rung and kept moving.
The man leaned over the balcony.
“Give me the card!”
So he knew.
Sarah reached the ground and ran.
She did not head toward the driveway.
Victoria would expect that.
Instead, she sprinted toward the old greenhouse behind the rose garden.
Branches scratched her face.
The baby carrier bounced against her ribs.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered to Leo. “Hold on.”
A police siren sounded in the distance.
The man followed.
Sarah reached the greenhouse and shoved open the rusted door.
Rows of dead plants filled the abandoned structure.
She crouched behind a stone table and removed the memory card from her shoe.
If the attacker caught her, he would search her.
She needed to hide it somewhere unexpected.
Leo’s stuffed rabbit hung from the diaper bag.
Sarah ripped a small seam beneath one ear, pushed the card inside, and closed the opening with a safety pin.
The greenhouse door creaked.
Sarah held Leo close.
Footsteps crossed broken glass.
“You can’t hide,” the man said.
His voice sounded familiar.
“You’re making this worse.”
Sarah picked up a clay flowerpot.
The footsteps came closer.
“Give me the card, and I walk away.”
Sarah waited.
A shadow moved across the floor.
When the man stepped around the table, Sarah smashed the pot against his shoulder.
He cursed and grabbed her sleeve.
She kicked his knee.
He fell, pulling her down with him.
Sarah twisted so Leo would not strike the floor.
Pain exploded through her elbow.
The man reached for the diaper bag.
Sarah screamed.
A gunshot shattered the glass roof.
The attacker froze.
“Step away from them!” a police officer shouted.
The man shoved Sarah aside and ran toward the rear exit.
Two officers chased him.
A third rushed to Sarah.
“Are you hurt?”
“Check the baby.”
Dr. Morris arrived with Ethan minutes later.
Ethan ran through the greenhouse without caring that broken glass cut into his expensive shoes.
He dropped to his knees beside Sarah.
“Leo.”
“He’s safe,” Sarah said. “I kept him against me.”
Ethan touched his son’s cheek.
Then he noticed blood on Sarah’s sleeve.
“You’re hurt.”
“It’s only my elbow.”
His hands shook.
She had never seen Ethan’s hands shake.
“I should never have left.”
“You came back.”
“Not fast enough.”
Dr. Morris examined Leo in the guest room while police searched the estate.
The baby’s lungs sounded clear, but the doctor found a faint steam burn near his left ear.
Ethan stared at it.
“Could that happen from someone ironing a scarf across the room?”
“No,” Dr. Morris said. “It suggests direct exposure at close range.”
Victoria returned while the doctor was documenting the injury.
She entered through the front door with her father, Richard Vale, and two attorneys.
“I heard there was an intruder,” she said.
Ethan walked toward her.
“Where were you?”
“With my father.”
Richard stepped between them.
“My daughter was frightened after being falsely accused.”
“The meeting security footage shows her leaving.”
“One of my drivers collected her.”
“At what time?”
Richard’s lawyer answered.
“We will provide all relevant information through the proper channels.”
Ethan laughed once.
It contained no humor.
“My son was attacked in my home, and you brought lawyers.”
“I brought protection,” Victoria said.
“For whom?”
She looked past him at Sarah.
“For myself.”
The police questioned everyone.
Victoria denied deleting the camera footage.
She denied pinching Leo.
She denied knowing the masked intruder.
When an officer asked about Mia, Victoria claimed the former nanny had been emotionally unstable.
Sarah watched her from the staircase.
The lies came easily.
Too easily.
Later, Ethan found Sarah in the kitchen holding an ice pack against her elbow.
“Did the intruder take anything?”
“No.”
“Did he say anything?”
“He demanded the card.”
Ethan lowered his voice.
“You have it?”
Sarah glanced toward the doorway.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I won’t tell you yet.”
Pain crossed his face.
“You don’t trust me.”
“I trust that you love Leo.”
“But?”
“You spent months ignoring warning signs because Victoria’s family could save your company.”
He sat opposite her.
“That’s fair.”
Sarah had expected anger.
His agreement unsettled her more.
“I want to see the recording,” he said.
“So do I.”
They went to Ethan’s private study.
Sarah removed the card from the rabbit and inserted it into an offline laptop.
The first video opened.
The angle showed the nursery clearly.
Victoria entered carrying a bottle.
She looked directly at the main monitor, covered its lens, and approached Leo.
Then she whispered something too softly for the microphone to capture.
She poured the bottle into the sink.
She replaced it with another prepared bottle from her purse.
Sarah leaned toward the screen.
“What was in that bottle?”
“I don’t know,” Ethan said.
The next recording showed Victoria pressing her thumb into Leo’s arm until he cried.
Another showed her placing a blanket over his face for five seconds.
Ten seconds.
Fifteen.
Ethan turned away.
His shoulders shook.
Sarah stopped the video.
“There’s more.”
“I know.”
“You don’t have to watch everything right now.”
“Yes, I do.”
The final file had been recorded the previous night.
Victoria stood beside Leo’s crib while speaking on the phone.
“He still hasn’t changed the trust,” she said.
A man answered through the speaker.
The voice was distorted, but the words were clear.
“Then make the child look medically fragile. Once Walker believes the baby won’t survive, he’ll sign anything.”
Victoria touched Leo’s face.
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Accidents happen.”
Ethan went completely still.
Sarah felt the room tilt around her.
On the screen, Victoria smiled down at the sleeping baby.
Then the man on the phone spoke again.
“Deal with the maid first. She asks too many questions.”
The video ended.
Ethan reached for his phone.
Before he could call the detective, the study lights went out.
The laptop screen turned black.
May you like
Smoke drifted beneath the door.
Someone had set fire to the house.
