Chapter 2 - THE GLASS
Vivian stopped when she saw Lily.
“Well,” she said. “You’ve finally found someone who can give orders around here.”
She smiled at the child, then looked at my water.
I noticed because, for the first time in my life, I was watching her instead of believing her.
“Emma’s going to be worried,” she added.
“I’ll take Lily downstairs.”
“You look pale, Adrian.”
“I haven’t slept.”
Her smile softened into the expression she wore for doctors.
“I know. Drink something. You get worse when you’re dehydrated.”
I picked up the glass but didn’t drink.
Lily’s fingers closed around my sleeve.
“What brings you up here?”
“Checking on you.”
“At twelve thirty?”
“You used to thank me.”
“Thank you,” I said.
She waited.
I kept holding the glass.
Eventually, she left.
I called Daniel Russo, my security chief.
“Come upstairs alone. Bring a clean evidence bag.”
Then I carried Lily down to the staff apartment.
Emma Carter opened the door before I knocked.
Her eyes moved from her daughter to me, already frightened.
“I’m sorry. She knows she can’t—”
“She isn’t in trouble.”
Lily reached for her mother.
“I almost made him sleep.”
Emma’s face changed.
“You went into his room?”
“We’ll talk in the morning,” I said. “Lock your door tonight.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m asking.”
She looked at me steadily.
“That’s not an answer.”
I deserved that.
“There may be a problem upstairs. Daniel will stay in this hallway.”
Back in my bedroom, Daniel photographed the glass without touching it.
I gave him Lily’s words exactly, including what she hadn’t said.
“A toddler can mix things up,” he cautioned.
“I know. Test the water anyway.”
I called Dr. Maya Chen, a physician who had treated me before Vivian began arranging everything.
She agreed to see me privately at dawn.
Until then, I drank from an unopened bottle Daniel brought himself.
At four, he returned with an access report.
My bedroom lock accepted four credentials: mine, housekeeping, security, and a family override created after the accident.
“Who uses the override?”
“Your sister.”
He placed the report on my desk.
There were twenty-six entries in the past month, most between midnight and two.
The final line was different.
May you like
Someone had used Vivian’s credential thirty-seven minutes after she left my room.
And while I had been downstairs, they had deleted the hallway camera footage.
