Chapter 2 - The Mansion of Lies
Richard did not wait for an explanation. He scooped up the smallest boy, Liam, and signaled for his security team—who were now sprinting down the driveway, looking utterly mortified—to gather the others.
"Emily, get in the car," Richard commanded, his voice trembling.
"I am not going back into that house for her," Emily stated firmly, refusing to move from the curb.
Richard looked at her, his ego warring with his desperation. He realized then that he had lost the right to command her. "Please," he said, the word sounding foreign on his lips. "For them. I need you to tell me exactly what you saw before you were... before you were sent away."
Inside the mansion, the air felt thick with deception. Victoria Lane was waiting in the foyer, a practiced look of concern plastered on her face. But the moment she saw the boys covered in blood, and Emily walking in behind them, her expression fractured.
"Richard? What happened? Did she attack them?" Victoria cried out, rushing forward.
Richard didn't flinch. He didn't even acknowledge her. He walked past her, his eyes scanning the foyer for the surveillance equipment he had installed months ago—equipment he had been told was "faulty" by Victoria’s own hired tech support.
"Victoria," Richard said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "The boys just told me you locked them in the playroom with an animal that is strictly forbidden from the house. And they told me you threatened them."
"They're children, Richard! They’re traumatized! That woman has been poisoning their minds against me for months!" Victoria shrieked, her voice rising to a frantic pitch.
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But Richard wasn't listening. He pulled his phone out, tapping into the secondary cloud backup he had secretly maintained for his firm’s security. He didn't need the internal system; he had a satellite feed. He pulled up the live footage from the playroom.
The screen showed Victoria, her face twisted in a mask of pure, unadulterated hatred, standing over the boys, a heavy belt in her hand, mocking their cries for Emily.
