Chapter 1 - The Red Light
"Please, stop! You're hurting him!"
Lily Carter's scream cut through the Blackwood mansion so sharply that even the grandfather clock seemed to miss a beat.
Fourteen-month-old Ethan was on the marble floor beside the breakfast table, crying so hard he could barely catch his breath. Lily was on her knees in front of him, one arm shielding his small body. Serena Vale stood over them in a cream silk dress, her face as calm as if she were waiting for coffee.
"Move," Serena said.
"No."
"I said move."
Lily stared up at her. "You twisted his arm because he knocked over a cup. He's a baby."
Serena's mouth tightened. "He needs discipline."
"He needs a doctor."
Serena bent closer until her perfume filled Lily's lungs. "Who do you think Victor will believe? His future wife or a cheap nanny who has been in this house for six months?"
Lily's fingers shook, but she didn't move.
What Serena didn't know was that Victor Blackwood had come home three hours early.
His meeting in Chicago had been canceled before takeoff. He had entered through the side foyer, heard Ethan crying, and stopped in the dark archway between the library and the great room.
He had seen enough.
"What happened here?"
Serena spun around.
For the first time, her perfect face cracked.
"Victor."
He walked into the room, dropped his briefcase, and went straight to his son.
Ethan reached for him immediately.
"Dada."
Victor lifted him carefully. The child screamed when his left arm moved.
Victor went still.
"Why is he hurt?"
Serena pointed at Lily without hesitation. "She grabbed him. I walked in and found her losing control."
Lily stared at her. "That's a lie."
"Of course you'd say that."
Victor's eyes moved from Serena to Lily, then to the ceiling.
The security camera above the doorway was dark.
"Why is that camera off?"
Serena blinked. "I don't know."
Lily whispered, "It was on this morning."
Victor's jaw tightened.
Then he noticed something under the dining table.
A tiny black recorder.
Its red light was blinking.
Lily's breath caught. She had hidden it there after weeks of being told she was imagining Serena's temper.
Victor picked it up.
"What is this?"
Lily answered before Serena could. "Insurance."
Serena lunged. "Give me that."
Victor stepped away and pressed PLAY.
Static filled the room.
Then Serena's voice came through clearly.
"Who do you think he'll believe? His future wife or a cheap nanny?"
No one moved.
Serena's face turned white.
Victor looked at her as if he had never seen her before.
Then a sob came from the staircase.
Rosa, one of the housemaids, stood at the top step with both hands over her mouth.
"Sir," she whispered.
Victor looked up.
Rosa was crying.
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"This wasn't the first time."
And suddenly, Serena wasn't the only person in the room who looked afraid.
