Chapter 2 - THE CAMERA RECORDING
For three seconds, nobody moved.
The mansion seemed to hold its breath.
I stared at Rebecca.
She stood in the center of the marble foyer, one hand still gripping the edge of the table beside her. Her face had lost every trace of the smug confidence she had worn moments earlier.
“Dad,” Ethan said again.
His voice was quieter this time.
Not angry.
Not crying.
Terrified.
“Go to your study.”
I looked at my son.
“Why?”
“Because the camera will show you what really happened.”
Rebecca suddenly stepped forward.
“Alexander, this is ridiculous. Your son is emotional. He doesn't understand—”
“Stop.”
One word.
Rebecca froze.
I had spent fourteen months avoiding conflict inside my own home. I had tolerated arguments, excuses, whispers, and family politics because I was exhausted.
But something about the fear in Rebecca's eyes made me finally listen.
I turned toward my study.
Rebecca followed.
“Alexander, wait.”
I didn't answer.
Behind me, I heard Logan roll his wheelchair across the marble floor.
“I'm coming too.”
The security system was displayed on three monitors inside my study.
I sat down and pulled up the footage from the hallway outside Maria's room.
Rebecca stood behind me.
Too close.
“Maybe we should talk privately,” she whispered.
I ignored her.
I rewound the footage.
Saturday.
6:42 a.m.
Maria entered her room carrying a basket of folded laundry.
6:51.
She left.
7:03.
Rebecca appeared.
My hand stopped moving.
Rebecca stared at the screen.
“That's nothing,” she said quickly.
I didn't respond.
On the recording, Rebecca looked around the hallway.
Then she opened Maria's door.
She entered.
Five minutes later, she walked out.
Empty-handed.
I slowly turned my head.
Rebecca's face had gone pale.
“That doesn't prove anything,” she whispered.
“No.”
I rewound the footage again.
“Not yet.”
At 7:18, my head housekeeper entered Maria's room.
At 7:21, Rebecca returned.
This time, she carried something.
A small velvet box.
My wife's necklace.
Logan gasped.
“Oh my God.”
Rebecca backed away.
“No.”
I stared at the screen.
My late wife's diamond necklace had never been under Maria's mattress.
Rebecca had put it there.
Then she had gathered the staff.
Then she had accused Maria.
My hands began shaking.
Fourteen months of guilt.
Fourteen months of grief.
Fourteen months of believing I had failed my sons.
And somehow, the one person who had brought laughter back into this house had been sacrificed because I was too blind to see the truth.
I stood.
“Rebecca.”
She said nothing.
“Why?”
Her lips trembled.
“I can explain.”
“You framed Maria.”
“I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
She looked toward Ethan and Logan.
“From her.”
Ethan slammed his hand against the armrest.
“She saved us!”
Rebecca flinched.
“You don't understand what she was doing.”
Logan's eyes narrowed.
“Then tell us.”
Rebecca opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
And that's when another voice came from the doorway.
“Because Maria wasn't just hired to care for the boys.”
Everyone turned.
It was Daniel, my attorney.
I hadn't even heard him enter.
He held a thick brown envelope.
My stomach tightened.
“Daniel?”
He walked into the room and looked directly at Rebecca.
“I think it's time your brother knew everything.”
Rebecca whispered one word.
“No.”
Daniel placed the envelope on my desk.
“Fourteen months ago, someone accessed Alexander's private financial accounts.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Not only that. Someone obtained copies of your children's medical records, your wife's estate documents, and the trust agreement.”
My heart pounded.
“Who?”
Daniel looked at Rebecca.
“We've been investigating.”
Rebecca suddenly ran.
She pushed past me and sprinted toward the hallway.
“Stop her!”
Two security guards intercepted her.
She screamed.
“Get your hands off me!”
I stared at her.
The sister I had trusted all my life.
The woman who had held my hand at my wife's funeral.
The woman who had promised to help me raise my sons.
Now she was trying to escape my house.
“Rebecca,” I said quietly.
She stopped struggling.
“Who are you really working for?”
Her face crumpled.
“I didn't mean for this to happen.”
Daniel opened the envelope.
“We'll find out.”
Then he pulled out a photograph.
A photograph of Maria.
But Maria wasn't alone.
Beside her stood a man I had never seen before.
Daniel placed another photograph beside it.
The same man.
Standing outside the hospital.
Fourteen months ago.
The week my sons had their accident.
My blood turned cold.
“Who is that?”
Daniel looked at me.
“We don't know yet.”
He paused.
May you like
“But Maria does.”
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