Chapter 4 - Twenty-Six Cameras Go Dark
Emergency lighting activated seven seconds later.
Seven seconds can be an eternity when your children are trapped behind a locked door.
I reached the nursery.
"Lina!"
"We're inside!"
I pulled the handle.
Locked.
The mansion's interior doors weren't supposed to lock from the hallway.
Someone had manually engaged the security override.
I entered the emergency code.
Nothing.
"Move away from the door!"
My security team arrived.
Thirty seconds later, they forced it open.
Lina was on the floor holding both babies.
Mateo was crying.
Samuel was unharmed.
The window was closed.
Nobody else was inside.
I took Mateo.
For the first time in weeks, I didn't feel helpless.
I felt furious.
"Where's Clara?"
Security searched the mansion.
Guest room empty.
Suitcase gone.
Garage camera offline.
Front gate had opened during the blackout.
Clara was gone.
But she hadn't left alone.
My security chief discovered that someone had accessed the mansion's control network remotely.
An employee account.
Victor Shaw.
My chief financial officer.
My friend of twelve years.
Victor had attended my wedding.
He had held Mateo at the hospital.
He had given the eulogy after Aurelia's funeral.
And his credentials had just helped Clara escape.
I called him.
No answer.
By dawn, police were involved.
The toxicology report, security footage, Aurelia's recordings, and forged trust documents changed everything.
This was no longer a family disagreement.
Investigators began building a case.
But Clara had disappeared.
At nine o'clock, Marcus and I went to the bank.
A detective accompanied us.
The safe-deposit box opened with Aurelia's key.
Inside were three things.
A second flash drive.
A sealed envelope addressed to me.
And a photograph.
The photograph showed Clara standing beside Victor.
They were kissing.
The timestamp was eight months before Aurelia died.
My stomach turned.
Victor wasn't simply helping Clara.
They were together.
The envelope contained a letter from Aurelia.
Damian,
I hope you never have to read this.
Clara and Victor are having an affair.
I discovered it accidentally.
I also discovered Victor has been helping her move money from my family trust through Blackwood subsidiaries.
I haven't confronted them.
I need proof first.
Please forgive me for not telling you immediately. I know Victor is like a brother to you.
Protect our boys.
And Damian—if grief makes you doubt yourself, remember this:
You were the safest place I ever knew.
Aurelia.
I couldn't breathe.
For months, I had blamed myself for failing Aurelia.
Yet while she was alive, she had been trying to protect me.
The second flash drive contained financial records proving Victor had created shell companies to conceal Clara's stolen money.
More than sixty million dollars.
But there was something else.
A hospital access log.
Victor had entered Aurelia's hospital floor the night before her condition suddenly deteriorated.
He had told me he was in London.
He had lied.
The detective looked at me.
"We need to locate both of them immediately."
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Clara.
"Damian."
"Where are you?"
"You found Aurelia's box."
"Where are you?"
"She always thought she was smarter than me."
"You went near my son."
Silence.
Then Clara laughed softly.
"You still don't understand."
"Understand what?"
"Mateo was never the target."
My blood froze.
I looked at Marcus.
"What did you say?"
"Ask Lina why she was really hired."
The call ended.
I immediately contacted the mansion.
"Lina?"
"I'm here."
"Take Samuel and Mateo into the secure room."
"Why?"
"Now."
As security moved them, Marcus searched Lina's employment documents.
Everything appeared legitimate.
Recommendation.
Background check.
University enrollment.
References.
Then he noticed the date on her original application.
Four months before Aurelia died.
"Damian."
"What?"
"Lina didn't apply after Aurelia died."
I stared at him.
"What are you talking about?"
"Aurelia hired her."
The room went silent.
I called Lina.
"Did you know my wife?"
A long pause.
"Yes."
"How?"
"She found me at the hospital."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because she asked me not to."
My grip tightened around the phone.
"Tell me everything."
Lina began crying.
"Your wife believed someone was going to hurt her babies."
Aurelia had hired Lina before giving birth.
Not as a nanny.
As a witness.
And suddenly Clara's words made sense.
Mateo was never the target.
The twins were evidence.
Evidence that destroyed Clara's inheritance.
Evidence that Aurelia's trust no longer belonged to her sister.
But before Lina could explain more, the secure-room alarm sounded.
Someone was trying to enter the mansion.
Security checked the gate.
A black SUV waited outside.
The driver stepped out.
It wasn't Clara.
It wasn't Victor.
It was Dr. Stephen Mercer.
May you like
The physician who had signed Aurelia's death certificate.
And he was carrying a sealed medical file that, according to him, proved Aurelia Blackwood had not died from the complication listed in her official records.
