CHAPTER 2 — The Secret Hidden Inside the Tablet
Arthur Sterling did not sleep that night.
Not after watching the video.
Not after seeing the woman he trusted most push his daughter into the pool.
He sat beside Lily’s bed until sunrise, holding her tiny hand while she slept.
The little girl had finally stopped shaking, but every few minutes she whispered the same words.
“Daddy… don’t leave.”
Each time, Arthur’s heart broke a little more.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he whispered.
And for the first time in two years…
He meant it.
Because for two years, Arthur had been slowly disappearing from his own daughter’s life.
After Lily’s mother died, he had buried himself in work. Billion-dollar investments. International meetings. Endless flights.
He told himself he was building a future for Lily.
But the truth was…
He had allowed someone else to step into the empty spaces.
Victoria.
The woman everyone believed saved him.
The woman who had comforted him when he was broken.
The woman who convinced him that Lily needed a mother figure.
Arthur looked through the glass wall toward the pool.
The same pool where his daughter almost died.
His phone rang.
It was his private investigator.
Daniel Cross.
Arthur answered immediately.
“Tell me everything.”
There was a long pause on the other end.
Then Daniel spoke.
“Arthur… you need to hear this before you confront her.”
Arthur stood.
“What did you find?”
“We checked Victoria’s background.”
“And?”
“She wasn’t randomly introduced to you.”
Arthur’s expression changed.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“She knew who you were before she met you.”
The room suddenly felt colder.
Arthur gripped the phone tighter.
“How?”
“Three months before your first meeting, Victoria started researching your family.”
Arthur stared at Lily sleeping peacefully.
“Why?”
Another silence.
Then Daniel said the words that made Arthur’s blood run cold.
“Because of your daughter’s inheritance.”
Arthur froze.
“What inheritance?”
“Your late wife’s trust fund.”
Arthur knew about it.
A private account worth nearly $18 million.
Created for Lily before her mother passed away.
But only accessible when Lily turned eighteen.
Unless…
A legal guardian changed the arrangement.
Arthur looked at the guardianship papers sitting on his desk.
The papers Victoria had been begging him to sign.
Suddenly everything made sense.
She didn’t want to become Lily’s mother.
She wanted control.
“Send me everything,” Arthur said.
“Arthur…”
“What?”
“Be careful.”
Arthur looked toward the hallway.
Toward Victoria’s bedroom.
“She lived in my house.”
His voice became dangerously calm.
“She stood next to my daughter.”
A pause.
“Now she’s going to learn what happens when someone threatens my family.”
The next morning, Victoria appeared in the kitchen.
She looked completely different.
No panic.
No fear.
Only sadness.
The same performance she had mastered.
Arthur watched silently as she walked toward him.
“Arthur…”
Her voice trembled.
“I know you’re upset.”
He said nothing.
“I made a mistake. I should have watched her more carefully.”
A lie.
A beautiful, carefully prepared lie.
Arthur poured coffee into a cup.
“You pushed her.”
Victoria stopped.
For a second, her face almost broke.
Then she smiled sadly.
“I know what you think you saw.”
Arthur looked directly at her.
“No.”
He placed the cup down.
“I know what I saw.”
Victoria’s eyes hardened for half a second.
Just half.
But Arthur noticed.
“I love Lily.”
She whispered.
Arthur almost laughed.
Because those words no longer meant anything.
Then Victoria stepped closer.
“Please don’t destroy everything because of one misunderstanding.”
Arthur looked at her.
“Interesting choice of words.”
Her expression changed.
“What?”
“Destroy everything.”
He walked toward the door.
“Because that’s exactly what you were trying to do.”
Victoria’s face turned pale.
And Arthur knew.
She was afraid.
But before he could say anything else…
The front door opened.
A woman walked inside.
Arthur recognized her immediately.
Lily’s former nanny.
Emma.
She looked nervous.
Terrified.
“Mr. Sterling…”
Arthur turned.
“What are you doing here?”
Emma looked at Victoria.
Then back at Arthur.
“I need to tell you something.”
Victoria’s face changed.
“Emma, this is not the time.”
But Emma ignored her.
She pulled a small envelope from her bag.
“I found this hidden in Victoria’s room.”
Arthur took it.
Inside was a printed email.
One sentence was highlighted.
His hands tightened.
Because the message was from Victoria.
And it was sent six months before she met him.
“The child is the only obstacle. Once I have guardianship, everything will belong to me.”
Arthur looked up.
Victoria was no longer pretending.
And for the first time…
He saw the real woman behind the mask.
Cliffhanger:
Victoria slowly smiled.
Not because she was caught.
But because she knew something Arthur didn’t.
May you like
“Arthur,” she whispered.
“You really should ask Emma why she waited six months to show you that.”
