Chapter 2 - LILY’S FIRST TESTIMONY
The hospital confirmed Ethan’s shoulder had been dislocated.
There were also bruises around his upper arm.
Some were fresh.
Others were not.
Victor stood behind the glass wall while the doctor spoke.
“Those older marks concern me.”
Lily closed her eyes.
She had feared this moment.
Victor turned toward her.
“You knew.”
It was not a question.
Lily looked at Ethan sleeping beneath a warm blanket.
“I suspected.”
“How long?”
“Three weeks.”
Victor stepped closer.
“And you said nothing?”
Pain flashed across Lily’s face.
“I tried.”
Victor stopped.
“What does that mean?”
“I tried to tell you twice.”
“When?”
“The night of the foundation dinner.”
Victor remembered.
Lily had approached him near the staircase.
Serena had interrupted.
She had laughed and said Ethan had refused his dinner.
Victor had left ten minutes later for a meeting.
“The second time?”
“Last Thursday.”
Victor remembered that too.
Serena had told him Lily wanted more money.
He had instructed his accountant to increase Lily’s salary without speaking to her directly.
Victor’s face changed.
“She intercepted you.”
“Every time.”
Lily nodded.
“She started making sure I was never alone with you.”
Victor glanced through the glass at Ethan.
“Tell me everything.”
Lily hesitated.
“Everything.”
So she did.
She told him about Serena pinching Ethan when he cried during dress fittings.
She told him about the afternoon Serena locked the boy alone in a dark pantry because he would not stop calling for Lily.
She told him about the bruises she had photographed.
Victor turned sharply.
“You have photographs?”
Lily nodded.
“On my phone.”
She reached into her pocket.
Nothing.
Her face drained.
“My phone.”
“When did you last have it?”
“In the foyer.”
Victor called Cole.
“Find Lily’s phone.”
Cole searched the mansion.
Ten minutes later, he called back.
“It’s gone.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
“Check every camera.”
There was silence on the other end.
Then Cole spoke again.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“The foyer cameras went offline seventeen minutes before you arrived.”
Victor slowly looked toward Lily.
“That’s impossible.”
Lily shook her head.
“They were working this afternoon.”
Victor knew exactly what that meant.
Someone had deliberately disabled them.
Serena had not simply lost her temper.
She had expected something to happen.
Victor called another number.
“Lock down the mansion.”
“No one leaves.”
“No staff.”
“No guests.”
“No deliveries.”
“And Serena?”
Cole hesitated.
“She’s still here.”
Victor’s voice turned deadly calm.
“Keep her there.”
When Victor ended the call, Lily looked frightened.
“She knows I took pictures.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Victor looked through the glass.
Ethan stirred.
His tiny mouth moved.
“Lily.”
She immediately entered the room.
Victor watched as she sat beside the bed.
Ethan relaxed the moment her hand touched his hair.
Victor felt something heavy settle inside his chest.
He had spent years building an empire around protection.
Armed men guarded his gates.
Bulletproof glass covered his cars.
Every person who entered his home was screened.
Yet his son had been hurt inside his own house.
Not by an enemy.
By the woman he intended to marry.
His phone rang.
Cole.
“We found something.”
“What?”
“Lily’s phone.”
Victor straightened.
“Where?”
“In Serena’s bedroom.”
Lily stared at him.
Cole continued.
“But there’s a problem.”
“The phone has been smashed.”
Victor said nothing.
“And there’s something else.”
“What?”
“We found a second phone hidden under Serena’s mattress.”
Victor’s eyes darkened.
“Bring it to me.”
Cole lowered his voice.
“You’re going to want to see what’s on it.”
Victor looked at Ethan.
Then at Lily.
“What did you find?”
“A message sent twenty minutes after you left for the hospital.”
Victor waited.
Cole read it aloud.
May you like
THE NANNY KNOWS ABOUT ETHAN.
WE NEED TO MOVE BEFORE VICTOR FINDS OUT HE WAS NEVER THE REAL TARGET.
