Chapter 2 - The Woman Before Natalie
Evelyn's sentence stayed in the hallway long after she stopped speaking.
“You said that about the last one too.”
Lucas stared at Daniel as if the answer mattered more than anything else in the world.
Daniel did not respond immediately.
Natalie felt the child's fingers tighten around her uniform.
She could feel his heartbeat through the thin fabric.
Too fast.
Too frightened.
Not angry anymore.
Terrified.
Evelyn stood near the staircase with one hand resting on the polished banister.
Her expression remained controlled, but something in her eyes told Natalie that the comment had not been accidental.
Daniel finally looked at Evelyn.
“Enough.”
Evelyn's chin lifted.
“With respect, Mr. Brooks, silence is part of the reason we are standing here.”
Lucas turned his face back into Natalie's shoulder.
Daniel's jaw tightened.
Two security men waited near the far doorway, uncertain whether they were supposed to intervene.
Natalie slowly stood.
Pain cut beneath her ribs.
She almost lost her balance.
Daniel noticed.
“Get Dr. Hale.”
“I don't need—”
“You were hit with a bronze statue.”
Natalie looked at Lucas.
The boy's face changed instantly.
Guilt replaced fear.
“No doctor.”
His whisper was desperate.
Natalie crouched again despite the pain.
“The doctor isn't punishment.”
Lucas shook his head.
“I didn't mean…”
Natalie waited.
He swallowed.
“I wanted you to go.”
That surprised her.
“Why?”
Lucas stared at the floor.
“Because you were going to leave anyway.”
Daniel closed his eyes for half a second.
Natalie understood then.
The attack had not been random.
Lucas had been trying to control the ending.
If he made her leave, then she had not abandoned him.
He had driven her away first.
Natalie touched his shoulder.
“Did someone tell you I was leaving?”
Lucas shook his head.
“Everybody leaves.”
Evelyn looked away.
Daniel's face hardened.
Natalie turned toward him.
“How many?”
Daniel knew exactly what she meant.
He did not answer.
Evelyn did.
“Six.”
Natalie stared at her.
“In how long?”
“Fourteen months.”
Daniel shot Evelyn a warning look.
She ignored it.
“Three nannies.”
Evelyn counted without emotion.
“Two private tutors.”
“And one housekeeper assigned specifically to Lucas.”
Natalie's stomach tightened.
“What happened to them?”
“They resigned.”
Daniel's answer came quickly.
Too quickly.
Evelyn's gaze moved toward him.
“Most of them did.”
Natalie caught the distinction.
“Most?”
Daniel's expression changed.
Evelyn said nothing.
Lucas suddenly pulled away.
“I want my room.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“I'll take you.”
“No.”
The word came out sharp.
Lucas reached for Natalie instead.
Her ribs protested when he tugged her hand.
She did not show it.
“I'll walk with you.”
Daniel watched them disappear toward the staircase.
For the first time in years, nobody asked his permission.
Lucas's bedroom occupied the eastern corner of the second floor.
It was larger than Natalie's entire childhood apartment.
There were shelves filled with expensive toys.
A miniature train system.
A reading nook beneath tall windows.
A carved wooden bed shaped like an old sailing ship.
Yet the room did not feel like a child's room.
It felt staged.
Perfect.
Expensive.
Lonely.
Lucas climbed onto the bed and pulled his knees to his chest.
Natalie sat carefully on the edge.
He watched her hand move toward her ribs.
“Does it hurt bad?”
“Yes.”
His eyes filled again.
Natalie could have lied.
She chose not to.
“But I'm okay.”
Lucas looked at her for several seconds.
“Are you leaving tomorrow?”
“No.”
“Next week?”
“I don't know what next week will look like.”
Fear appeared immediately.
Natalie leaned closer.
“But if I ever have to leave this house, I will tell you myself.”
Lucas studied her.
“I won't disappear.”
That seemed to reach him.
His shoulders lowered slightly.
Natalie pointed toward a stuffed fox near his pillow.
“What is his name?”
Lucas looked embarrassed.
“Arthur.”
“Arthur looks like a serious guy.”
“He guards the door.”
Natalie's smile faded.
“From what?”
Lucas became still.
For several seconds he did not answer.
Then he whispered.
“The man who comes when Daddy isn't here.”
Natalie felt cold despite the warmth of the room.
“What man?”
Lucas grabbed Arthur and pressed the toy against his stomach.
“I don't know.”
“You've seen him?”
Lucas nodded.
“Where?”
His eyes moved toward the bedroom door.
Then toward the wall behind Natalie.
“He talks to Miss Mara.”
Natalie remembered Evelyn's words.
The last one.
“Was Mara your nanny?”
Lucas nodded again.
“She said she wouldn't leave.”
“What happened?”
Lucas squeezed the stuffed fox.
“One night I woke up.”
Natalie waited.
“She was crying.”
“Why?”
“The man was in the hallway.”
Natalie's heartbeat changed.
“What did he say to her?”
Lucas looked at the door again.
“He said she had seen something that didn't belong to her.”
A chill moved across Natalie's arms.
“What happened after that?”
Lucas's lower lip trembled.
“Morning came.”
Natalie waited.
“She was gone.”
The bedroom door opened.
Daniel stood there.
He had heard enough.
Lucas instantly stopped talking.
Daniel entered slowly.
“Who was the man?”
Lucas shook his head.
“Lucas.”
The boy backed against the headboard.
Natalie raised one hand toward Daniel.
“Don't.”
Daniel stopped.
She lowered her voice.
“He'll tell us when he feels safe.”
Daniel stared at her.
Then at his son.
Something close to shame passed over his face.
He nodded.
That night, after Dr. Hale confirmed that Natalie's ribs were badly bruised but not broken, she returned to the staff wing.
Her room was small but comfortable.
She had just turned off the bedside lamp when someone knocked.
Three slow knocks.
Natalie opened the door.
Evelyn stood outside.
In her hand was a folded piece of cream stationery.
“You asked what happened to the others.”
Natalie looked at the paper.
Evelyn extended it.
“This was found underneath Mara Bennett's mattress the morning she disappeared.”
Natalie unfolded it.
Only one sentence had been written.
If anything happens to me, don't believe the story they tell about why I left.
Natalie looked up.
“Who else has seen this?”
Evelyn's face became unreadable.
“You.”
A pause.
“And me.”
“Daniel?”
“No.”
Natalie's blood went cold.
“Why not?”
Evelyn turned toward the empty corridor.
“Because I still don't know whether the person Mara was afraid of works for Daniel…”
May you like
She looked back.
“…or answers to him.”
