Chapter 2 - THE VIDEO SERENA COULDN’T ERASE
Serena moved first.
“Give me that.”
Rosa stepped backward.
Victor turned his head.
“Serena.”
One word.
She stopped instantly.
Rosa came down the stairs with both hands wrapped around the phone.
“I found Miss Montigue in Lily’s room twenty minutes ago.”
Serena laughed.
“That’s ridiculous.”
“She was searching the drawers.”
“I was looking for medication.”
“In the nanny’s bedroom?”
Serena’s face tightened.
Victor held Ethan against his chest.
The baby had stopped screaming, but each time Victor shifted him, he whimpered.
Victor looked toward his security chief.
“Marcus.”
A large man appeared from the doorway.
“Car.”
“Already outside.”
“Hospital.”
Serena stepped forward.
“I’ll come.”
Victor looked at her.
“No.”
She stared at him.
“Victor—”
“You’re staying here.”
For the first time, Serena’s confidence cracked.
Lily rode with Victor to Lakeshore Children’s Hospital.
During the entire drive, Victor said almost nothing.
He kept looking at Ethan.
Then at Lily.
Then at the phone Rosa had handed him.
“Was Serena telling the truth about you?”
Victor finally asked.
Lily’s throat tightened.
“No.”
“Think carefully before you answer again.”
“I am.”
“You never hurt my son?”
“Never.”
“Never lost your temper?”
“No.”
Victor stared at her.
Lily stared back.
She was frightened of him.
Everybody was.
But fear couldn’t matter anymore.
“I would die before I hurt Ethan.”
Victor looked away.
At the hospital, X-rays confirmed a fractured elbow and severe bruising.
The doctor’s expression hardened when he examined older marks on Ethan’s back and thigh.
“These aren’t from tonight.”
Victor became still.
“How old?”
“Different stages of healing.”
Lily covered her mouth.
She had seen some of those bruises.
Serena had blamed furniture.
Falls.
Clumsiness.
Victor had believed her.
Because he had wanted to.
The realization appeared on his face like a physical wound.
“Are you saying somebody’s been hurting my son for weeks?”
The doctor chose his words carefully.
“I’m saying these injuries require an investigation.”
Victor looked through the glass at Ethan sleeping under observation.
Then he unlocked Lily’s phone.
“What am I looking for?”
“Tuesday.”
Lily’s voice shook.
“Twenty-three minutes after nine.”
Victor opened the video.
At first, the screen showed Ethan’s nursery.
Empty.
Then Serena entered.
She was carrying a small bottle.
Lily watched Victor’s face.
Serena poured something into Ethan’s milk.
The recording captured her voice.
“You’re making this much harder than it needs to be.”
Victor stopped breathing.
The baby began crying in the recording.
Serena lifted him roughly.
“Your father should’ve sent you away after your mother died.”
Victor paused the video.
His face had gone white.
Lily had never seen a man look so furious and so broken at the same time.
“She said what?”
“There’s more.”
Victor pressed play.
Serena carried Ethan toward the crib.
Then another person entered the nursery.
A man.
His face wasn’t visible.
Only his hand.
A gold signet ring flashed beneath the lamp.
The man spoke.
“Once the wedding’s done, the kid won’t matter.”
Victor froze the recording.
Lily looked at him.
“You know that ring.”
Victor didn’t answer.
But she saw recognition.
Marcus entered the room.
“Boss?”
Victor turned the phone around.
Marcus looked at the frozen image.
His face changed immediately.
“No way.”
Lily looked between them.
“Who is he?”
May you like
Victor’s voice was barely audible.
“My brother.”
