Chapter 2 - THE LOCKED ROOM
Victor stared at Maria.
“What other children?”
Serena laughed.
It sounded forced.
“Victor, this is ridiculous.”
He didn’t look at her.
“Maria. Answer me.”
Maria came down one step.
Then another.
Her knees were shaking.
“I saw her before.”
“Before what?”
“Before Ethan.”
Serena moved quickly toward the stairs.
“Maria, you’re fired.”
Victor stepped between them.
“No.”
Serena blinked.
“No?”
“You don’t fire anyone in my house.”
The room went silent.
Victor pointed toward the front hall.
“Lily, get Ethan to the car. Call Dr. Patel on the way.”
Lily hesitated.
“Mr. Blackwood—”
“Go.”
She nodded.
Ethan clung to her blouse.
As Lily passed Victor, he touched his son’s hair.
“I’ll be right behind you.”
Lily left.
Victor watched until she disappeared.
Then he turned back.
“Maria. Start talking.”
Maria wiped her face.
“Two months ago, Ms. Vale had a friend here. A woman named Camille.”
Serena’s jaw tightened.
Victor caught it.
“Go on.”
“She brought her little girl. Maybe four years old.”
“I remember Camille,” Victor said.
Serena folded her arms.
“Camille is my friend. Her daughter had a tantrum. That’s all.”
Maria shook her head.
“That’s not all.”
“Be careful,” Serena said quietly.
Victor’s voice dropped.
“Don’t threaten her.”
“I’m not threatening anyone.”
Maria’s breathing became uneven.
“I was changing flowers in the blue sitting room. I heard the little girl crying in the east hallway.”
Victor frowned.
“The east hallway?”
There were almost no guest rooms in that wing.
Only storage spaces.
An old nursery.
And one locked room Victor had never used.
Maria nodded.
“Ms. Vale had her by the wrist.”
“What did she do?”
“She took her into the old music room.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“That room is locked.”
Maria looked at Serena.
“Not for her.”
Victor turned.
Serena’s expression had gone still.
Too still.
“Why do you have a key?”
“I don’t.”
Maria whispered, “Yes, you do.”
Serena spun on her.
“You little liar.”
Victor stepped closer.
“Serena.”
She faced him.
“What?”
“Give me your keys.”
She stared at him.
“You cannot be serious.”
“Give me your keys.”
Her voice rose.
“You think I hurt some random child because a maid says so?”
“I think my son is on the way to a hospital with an injured arm.”
“That nanny did it!”
“We have a recording.”
“A recording that proves I insulted her. Nothing more.”
Victor’s face became unreadable.
“Your keys.”
For several seconds, Serena didn’t move.
Then she reached into her handbag.
She pulled out a ring of keys and threw it onto the marble floor.
“There. Humiliate me some more.”
Victor picked them up.
Maria looked at one key.
A small brass one.
“That one.”
Serena’s eyes flashed.
Victor saw it.
He walked toward the east hall.
Maria followed.
So did Serena.
The hallway grew colder as they moved away from the main rooms.
Victor had bought the mansion after his wife, Claire, died.
He had never liked this section of the house.
Too quiet.
Too many rooms built for a family he no longer had.
At the end of the hall stood a white double door.
The old music room.
Victor inserted the brass key.
It turned.
He looked over his shoulder.
Serena had stopped walking.
Victor pushed the door open.
Dust floated in the pale afternoon light.
An old grand piano stood beneath a sheet.
Broken chairs lined one wall.
Nothing seemed unusual.
Maria stepped in.
“She took the girl here.”
Victor scanned the room.
“Where?”
Maria pointed toward the far wall.
“Back there.”
A large antique cabinet stood against it.
Victor approached.
Serena suddenly said, “We need to go to the hospital.”
Victor stopped.
“You were just telling me Ethan was fine.”
“I’m worried about him.”
“So am I.”
He grabbed the cabinet.
It was heavier than it looked.
Maria helped him.
Together, they dragged it several inches.
Victor froze.
Behind it was a small door.
Not part of the original wall.
A newer door.
Recently painted.
A keypad was mounted beside it.
Victor turned slowly.
“What is this?”
Serena said nothing.
“Serena.”
She looked almost bored now.
“I have no idea.”
Victor walked to the keypad.
He tried the handle.
Locked.
Maria stepped closer.
“I heard crying from behind there.”
Victor’s stomach twisted.
He pulled out his phone.
He called head of security.
“Daniel. East wing. Now. Bring tools.”
Serena moved toward the exit.
Victor blocked her.
“Where are you going?”
“To the hospital.”
“You’re staying.”
“You can’t imprison me.”
“No. But I can ask you to wait thirty seconds while my security team opens a secret room in my house.”
Her eyes flicked toward the hidden door.
Victor noticed.
Thirty seconds later, Daniel Cross arrived with two security officers.
Victor pointed.
“Open it.”
Daniel studied the lock.
“This wasn’t installed by us.”
Victor felt something cold move through his chest.
“What?”
“Our system has no record of this keypad.”
Serena shook her head.
“This is insane.”
Daniel used an electronic bypass tool.
The keypad beeped.
Red.
Then green.
The lock clicked.
Victor opened the door.
The room beyond was small.
Windowless.
Empty except for a wooden chair.
A table.
And a wall covered in photographs.
Dozens of photographs.
Victor stepped inside.
His breathing stopped.
Every photograph showed a child.
Different ages.
Different houses.
Different cities.
Some photos had dates written beneath them.
Some had names.
Some had red marks drawn across the faces.
And in the center of the wall was a recent photograph.
Ethan.
Sleeping in his crib.
Underneath it, someone had written:
PHASE THREE — BLACKWOOD.
Victor turned toward Serena.
For the first time since he had met her, she looked afraid.
Then Daniel picked up a folder from the table.
“Sir…”
Victor opened it.
Inside were copies of his financial records.
His will.
Ethan’s trust fund.
And a life insurance policy Victor had never seen before.
The beneficiary line carried one name.
SERENA VALE.
Victor looked up.
“Who the hell are you?”
Serena smiled.
But this time, there was no warmth left in it.
May you like
“Victor,” she said softly, “you should’ve stayed at work.”
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