Chapter 1 - The Camera Still Blinking
The punch came before Elena Reyes could get enough air back into her lungs.
Marcus Hale's fist caught her across the cheek and sent her sideways onto the wet stone terrace.
For a second, she saw nothing but white light.
Then the crying brought her back.
His son was still alive.
That was all that mattered.
Eight-month-old Leo coughed in Victoria's arms, wrapped in a towel one of the servants had brought from the pool house. Water dripped from his dark hair. His tiny hands opened and closed against the fabric.
Elena pushed herself up on one elbow.
"Don't touch him," Marcus snapped.
Her cheek burned. Her ribs hurt from hitting the stone. Her uniform clung to her body, heavy with pool water.
"I pulled him out," she said.
Victoria made a broken sound and hugged Leo closer.
"She pushed the stroller," she whispered.
Elena stared at her.
"What?"
Victoria's eyes filled with perfect tears.
"I saw you. You were angry because Marcus said you couldn't take Leo to your sister's house this weekend. You shoved the stroller and then jumped in after him so you could pretend to save him."
"That's a lie."
Marcus stepped between them.
"Enough."
"Marcus, listen to me."
"I said enough!"
The doors from the ballroom terrace had opened. Dinner guests stood inside, frozen behind the glass. Two guards came running from the east hall. A housekeeper covered her mouth.
Elena looked from face to face and understood what they saw.
The billionaire owner of the estate.
His terrified wife.
His coughing baby.
And the soaking-wet maid on the ground.
The story had already chosen its villain.
Marcus pointed toward the security guards.
"Call the police."
Victoria lowered her face so no one could see it.
But Elena did.
For half a second, the woman smiled.
Something inside Elena went still.
She stopped defending herself.
She stopped asking Marcus to believe her.
Instead, she lifted one shaking hand.
"What are you pointing at?" Marcus demanded.
Elena's finger moved past Victoria, past the pool, toward the dark hedge bordering the west lawn.
At first, Marcus saw only leaves.
Then he saw it.
A small black security camera almost hidden behind the branches.
Its red light was blinking.
Recording.
And its lens was pointed directly at the pool.
Victoria's face changed.
Only slightly.
But Marcus saw that too.
He looked at Elena.
"Whose camera is that?"
Elena wiped blood from the corner of her mouth.
"I don't know."
Victoria found her voice first.
"It's probably disconnected. Half the old cameras on this property don't work."
Elena stared at the red light.
"That one does."
Marcus turned to his head of security, Grant Mercer, who had just arrived from the hall.
"Get the footage. Now."
Grant stopped.
It lasted less than a second.
A tiny hesitation.
But Elena saw it.
So did Marcus.
"Grant?" Marcus said.
The security chief forced a nod.
"Of course, sir."
He started toward the hedge.
Elena got to her knees.
"Don't let him touch it."
Everyone looked at her.
Grant's jaw tightened.
"Excuse me?"
Elena pointed again, this time at him.
"If that camera shows what I think it shows, don't let anyone from security touch it until there's a copy."
Marcus stared at the woman he had just hit.
Then at the man he had trusted with his home for nine years.
The police sirens began beyond the gates.
Victoria whispered, "Marcus, she's manipulating you."
He didn't answer.
For the first time, he was watching Grant instead.
May you like
And Grant was no longer looking at Elena.
He was looking at the camera like he wished it had never existed.
