Chapter 1 - The Nanny’s First Word
“Because this time,” Victor said, “the nanny is going to explain everything.”
Nobody moved.
Serena’s raised foot remained suspended above Lily’s body.
Lily stared at Victor through blurred vision.
She had imagined this moment countless times.
She had imagined telling him the truth.
She had imagined him believing her.
But now that he was standing there, Lily could not force a single word past her lips.
Ethan released another weak gasp.
Victor’s expression changed instantly.
“Call Dr. Reeves.”
One of the guards reached for his phone.
“Now.”
Victor crossed the foyer and dropped to one knee beside his son.
His hands were powerful enough to frighten grown men.
But when he touched Ethan’s cheek, his fingers trembled.
“Ethan.”
The baby’s eyes barely opened.
Victor looked at the twisted arm.
Something cold and murderous passed across his face.
Serena lowered her foot slowly.
“Victor, this is not what it looks like.”
Victor did not look at her.
“Then tell me what it looks like.”
Serena swallowed.
“The nanny lost control.”
Lily’s breath caught.
“She was dragging him.”
Serena pointed toward Lily.
“I tried to stop her.”
“That’s a lie.”
Lily’s voice came out as little more than air.
Serena turned sharply.
“You should be careful.”
Victor finally looked up.
Serena immediately changed her tone.
“I mean she is injured.”
“She may be confused.”
Lily pressed one hand against her aching stomach.
“I’m not confused.”
Serena smiled sadly, as if Lily were a troubled employee embarrassing herself.
“You have been exhausted for weeks.”
“You told me you were hearing things.”
Lily stared at her.
“I never said that.”
Serena’s expression did not change.
“You did.”
Victor rose slowly.
The guards stepped farther into the room.
“Lily.”
His voice remained controlled.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
Lily looked at Ethan.
Then she looked at the woman who had threatened to erase her.
“She came into the nursery after you left this morning.”
“She told me to take the day off.”
“I refused because Ethan had a fever.”
Serena laughed softly.
“He did not have a fever.”
“He did.”
Lily forced herself to continue.
“She took him downstairs.”
“She said he needed to learn not to cry whenever someone left the room.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Lily’s hands began to shake.
“She locked him alone in the dark pantry.”
Victor’s face became still.
Serena stepped forward.
“That never happened.”
Lily ignored her.
“I heard him screaming.”
“When I opened the door, she grabbed him.”
“She said I was making him weak.”
“She pulled him across the floor.”
“And when I tried to take him back, she kicked me.”
Victor stared at Serena’s shoe.
A faint smear of Lily’s blood marked the pointed heel.
Serena noticed it too.
For the first time, panic entered her eyes.
Dr. Reeves hurried through the entrance with two paramedics.
The older physician took one look at Ethan and immediately reached for him.
“We need to stabilize the arm.”
Victor stepped back.
“Will he be all right?”
“I need to examine him.”
Dr. Reeves looked toward Serena.
Then toward Lily.
His face became uneasy.
“Who was holding him when the injury happened?”
“She was.”
Serena pointed at Lily.
Victor turned toward the guards.
“Separate them.”
Two guards moved toward Serena.
Her eyes widened.
“You cannot possibly believe her.”
Victor’s expression remained unreadable.
“I believe what I saw.”
“You saw one moment.”
“I saw your foot on her stomach.”
Serena’s lips parted.
Victor looked at the blood on her heel again.
“And I saw my son on the floor.”
The guards escorted Serena toward the sitting room.
As she passed Lily, she leaned closer.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“You have no idea what you just started.”
Victor heard her.
His head turned.
“What did you say?”
Serena smiled.
“I told her I hope she recovers.”
The paramedics placed Ethan on a small stretcher.
Victor followed them toward the door.
Then he stopped beside Lily.
“You are coming with us.”
Lily shook her head.
“She will destroy the evidence.”
Victor looked toward Serena.
“What evidence?”
Lily hesitated.
Serena had searched her room before.
She had destroyed Lily’s phone.
She had warned her never to keep records again.
But Lily had kept one thing hidden.
“There is a camera in Ethan’s nursery.”
Serena’s calm expression vanished.
Victor saw it.
“Where?”
“Inside the wooden moon above his crib.”
Serena pulled away from the guards.
“That is illegal.”
Victor’s eyes turned cold.
“What were you afraid it recorded?”
Serena said nothing.
Victor gestured toward his head of security.
“Bring me the camera.”
The man disappeared upstairs.
For sixty painful seconds, only Ethan’s weak cries filled the foyer.
Then the security chief returned.
The wooden moon was in his hands.
But the hidden camera was gone.
A jagged wire hung from the empty compartment.
Serena slowly smiled.
Victor looked at Lily.
Lily felt the floor tilt beneath her.
She had checked the camera that morning.
It had been there.
Someone had removed it within the last hour.
Then the security chief held up a small black memory card.
“We found this underneath the crib.”
Serena’s smile disappeared again.
Victor took the card.
Lily stared at it.
That was not the card she had placed inside the camera.
Victor studied the tiny object between his fingers.
“Take Ethan to the hospital.”
Then he looked directly at Serena.
“Nobody leaves this house.”
Because whatever was on that card had frightened Serena more than Victor’s arrival.
May you like
And Lily knew it might not contain evidence against her.
It might contain evidence designed to destroy her.
