Chapter 3 - THE HOUSEMAID WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Clara was waiting outside the library.
She looked nervous.
Not scared.
Nervous.
That told me something.
She wasn't trying to manipulate me.
She was trying to protect me.
"What did you find?" I asked.
She glanced around the hallway.
"Can we talk somewhere private?"
I nodded.
Inside the library, she slowly closed the heavy wooden door.
The room was quiet.
Too quiet.
Only the sound of rain tapping against the windows filled the air.
Clara placed a small envelope on the table.
"I found this behind the cabinet in Vanessa's office."
I looked at the envelope.
"Her office?"
She nodded.
"I wasn't searching through her things. She asked me to clean the room. When I moved the cabinet, this fell behind it."
I opened it.
The first thing I saw was a photograph.
My accident.
My destroyed car.
The second photo showed me leaving the hospital.
The third showed my private therapy schedule.
Someone had been tracking every step of my recovery.
My expression changed.
"Where did she get these?"
Clara shook her head.
"I don't know."
I looked through the remaining papers.
Medical reports.
Private appointments.
Information that only a few people should have known.
Someone had been watching me.
Not after the accident.
Before it.
"Mr. Carter..."
I looked up.
Clara's voice was softer.
"You need to be careful."
I studied her.
"Why?"
She hesitated.
"Because Vanessa isn't the same person when nobody is watching."
I stayed silent.
"What do you mean?"
Clara lowered her eyes.
"She says things."
"What things?"
She took a breath.
"Things about you."
My chest tightened.
"Tell me."
Clara looked at the floor.
"She said the accident was the best thing that ever happened to her."
The words hurt.
Not because I didn't believe them.
Because I did.
I turned away for a moment.
Three months ago, I thought Vanessa was the woman who would stay beside me forever.
Now I was learning she had been waiting for me to fall.
"Did she say anything else?"
Clara nodded.
"She said once you were removed from the company, everything would finally belong to her."
My jaw tightened.
Then I asked the question I had been avoiding.
"Clara..."
She looked at me.
"How much do you know about my condition?"
Her eyes changed.
Confusion.
Fear.
"What do you mean?"
I watched her carefully.
She wasn't pretending.
She genuinely didn't know.
So I stayed quiet.
Not yet.
I couldn't reveal everything.
Not until I knew who was truly on my side.
Then suddenly...
the library door opened.
Vanessa stood there.
Her perfect smile disappeared when she saw Clara beside me.
"What are you two doing?"
The room instantly became colder.
Clara stepped back.
Vanessa looked at the envelope on the table.
Then she looked at me.
For a brief second...
I saw fear in her eyes.
Only a second.
But I saw it.
She wasn't afraid because I found papers.
She was afraid because she didn't know what else I knew.
Vanessa slowly smiled.
"Alexander..."
Her voice became sweet.
Too sweet.
May you like
"What exactly did you find?"
TO BE CONTINUED...
