Chapter 2 - The Ghost in the Security ArchiveRichard’s gaze darted from Chloe to Eleanor, his chest heaving. "Chloe, sweetie, what are you saying? Your mother passed away from a sudden illness in this very house six months ago. Eleanor was the one who comforted us..."
"Comforted you? She poisoned her!" Chloe sobbed, pulling a small, heavy object from the pocket of her blue dress—a vintage silver flash drive. "She thinks she deleted the study cameras, but Mommy taught me how to back up the cloud storage to an offline drive. I saw everything on the night Mommy died. I saw Eleanor pour the white powder into her evening tea!"
Eleanor lunged forward like a striking viper. "The child is hallucinating! Richard, are you going to listen to a hysterical, grieving kid over your own wife? Security, get that maid and that brat out of my sight!"
"Touch my daughter and you answer to me," Richard growled, his voice dropping an octave into a tone that made even his hardened bodyguards step back. The illusion of perfection was cracking. Richard remembered the strange circumstances of his first wife’s sudden death—the rapid decline, the locked doors, Eleanor’s suspiciously comforting presence right after the funeral.
May you like
"Bring me the laptop," Richard ordered his head of security.
Within minutes, the sprawling ancestral estate's primary server feed was pulled up on the nursery's smart TV. Eleanor’s face turned the color of ash. As the video loaded, the entire household staff gathered quietly in the hallway, holding their collective breath.
Related Stories
