Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO DIDN’T EXIST
Daniel immediately stepped between Victor and Serena.
“Don’t move.”
Serena laughed.
“Seriously?”
Victor looked down at the documents again.
The policy looked real.
His signature looked real.
That was the problem.
He had never signed it.
“Call the police,” Victor said.
Serena’s smile vanished.
“Victor.”
“Now, Daniel.”
Daniel reached for his phone.
Serena stepped forward.
“Before you destroy your own life, maybe you should ask where that recorder came from.”
Victor paused.
“What?”
“The recorder under the table.”
“What about it?”
“You think I put it there?”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
Serena pointed toward the hallway.
“Your sweet little nanny told you she had never seen it before.”
“She was being attacked.”
“Was she?”
Maria whispered, “I saw what happened.”
Serena didn’t even look at her.
“I’m talking to Victor.”
Victor’s patience broke.
“You hurt my son.”
“You heard me insult Lily. You didn’t hear me break Ethan’s arm.”
Victor’s face tightened.
“You’re trying to turn this around.”
“No. I’m telling you someone has been recording this house.”
Daniel cut in.
“That can be investigated.”
Serena looked directly at him.
“Good. Investigate Lily.”
Victor took a step toward her.
“Enough.”
Serena’s voice sharpened.
“Where did she come from, Victor?”
“She was hired through an agency.”
“Which agency?”
Victor opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
He didn’t remember the name.
His personal assistant had handled the interviews after their previous nanny quit.
Serena saw the hesitation.
“Exactly.”
Victor hated that she had found even one inch of uncertainty.
Daniel’s phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
“Hospital.”
Victor grabbed the call.
“This is Blackwood.”
Dr. Patel spoke quickly.
Victor’s face lost color.
“What do you mean fracture?”
Serena went still.
Daniel watched him carefully.
Victor turned away.
“No. Do whatever you need to do. I’m coming.”
He ended the call.
Maria covered her mouth.
Victor looked at Serena.
“Ethan has a fractured ulna.”
Serena whispered, “Victor…”
He pointed to Daniel.
“Keep her here.”
“You can’t—”
“I’m going to my son.”
Serena grabbed his sleeve.
Victor looked down at her hand.
She released him.
For a brief second, the mask slipped.
Her eyes filled with real panic.
Not guilt.
Fear.
“Don’t trust Lily.”
Victor stared at her.
“Right now, you are the last person on earth who gets to tell me who to trust.”
He left.
At the hospital, Lily sat beside Ethan’s bed.
Her eyes were red.
One sleeve of her blouse was torn.
Ethan’s little arm had been stabilized.
He was sleeping from exhaustion.
Victor stopped in the doorway.
Lily looked up.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Victor walked to the bed.
He touched his son’s hair.
“I’m sorry, buddy.”
Lily lowered her eyes.
Victor looked at her.
“The doctor said the fracture is consistent with forceful twisting.”
Lily swallowed hard.
“She grabbed him when he tried to crawl away.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
The question came out harsher than he intended.
Lily looked at him.
“Tell you what?”
“That Serena was hurting him.”
Her face changed.
“I tried.”
Victor frowned.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“I never got a message.”
“I sent you one.”
“To my phone?”
“To your private number.”
Victor pulled it out.
“I don’t delete messages.”
Lily shook her head.
“You replied.”
His hand stopped.
“What?”
“You told me Serena was stressed about the wedding. You said I was overreacting.”
Victor stared at her.
“I never said that.”
Lily slowly reached into her bag.
She pulled out her phone.
The screen was cracked from the dining room.
She opened their message thread.
There it was.
LILY: I need to speak to you privately about Ethan and Ms. Vale. Something happened today that scared me.
VICTOR: Serena told me about the misunderstanding. Please don’t create unnecessary drama around my son. She is going to be his stepmother. Respect that.
Victor read it twice.
Then a third time.
His blood turned cold.
“I did not send this.”
Lily’s voice was quiet.
“I thought you did.”
Someone had access to his phone.
Or his account.
Victor called Daniel.
“Check every device in the house. Every login. Every security credential.”
Daniel said, “We already started.”
“And find out how Lily was hired.”
A pause.
Then Daniel said something Victor hadn’t expected.
“Sir, we did.”
Victor waited.
Daniel continued.
“The agency on her employment file doesn’t exist.”
Victor slowly looked at Lily.
She heard enough to understand.
“What?”
Victor lowered the phone.
“Lily… what agency hired you?”
“Fairmont Domestic Staffing.”
Daniel’s voice came through the speaker.
“There is no registered Fairmont Domestic Staffing in the state.”
Lily stood.
“That’s impossible.”
Victor’s eyes hardened despite himself.
“Who interviewed you?”
“A woman named Rachel.”
“Last name?”
Lily struggled.
“Dawson. I think.”
Daniel spoke again.
“No Rachel Dawson connected to any licensed domestic staffing company.”
Lily’s breathing changed.
“You think I’m part of this?”
Victor didn’t answer.
That hurt more than if he had.
Lily stepped back.
“I love that little boy.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Victor looked at Ethan.
“I don’t know what I know anymore.”
Lily stared at him.
Then she reached into the pocket of her sweater.
“I didn’t put that recorder under the table.”
“I believe you.”
“But I know who might have.”
Victor looked at her.
“Who?”
Lily hesitated.
“Your old nanny.”
Victor frowned.
“Rebecca?”
Lily nodded.
“She contacted me two days ago.”
Victor’s chest tightened.
Rebecca Hall had quit suddenly four months earlier.
No explanation.
No goodbye.
She had simply disappeared.
“What did she say?”
Lily unlocked her phone and showed him the message.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
IF SERENA IS STILL IN THAT HOUSE, GET ETHAN OUT.
A second message followed.
DON’T TRUST THE CAMERAS.
Then a third.
SHE KNOWS HOW TO MAKE ACCIDENTS LOOK NORMAL.
Victor felt the room tilt.
“Did you call her?”
Lily nodded.
“She never answered.”
Victor stared at the messages.
Then another notification appeared on Lily’s screen.
Same unknown number.
Received just now.
Lily opened it.
Three words.
SHE KNOWS YOU KNOW.
And beneath the text was a photograph.
Victor’s face went white.
The picture had been taken less than a minute earlier.
It showed Victor and Lily standing beside Ethan’s hospital bed.
From inside the room.
Someone was watching them.
May you like
Right now.
---
