Chapter 8 - The Door Nobody Was Supposed to Open
The next morning, Vincent drove to St. Catherine’s.
Emily did not accompany him.
He had asked.
She refused.
“You need to go as Enzo’s father,” she said. “Not as my employer.”
It irritated him because she was right.
Daniel joined him instead.
Mara Ellison no longer worked at the hospital.
The administrator described her departure as voluntary.
Vincent had spent enough years listening to corporate language to recognize avoidance.
“Why did she leave?”
“Personnel matters are confidential.”
Vincent leaned back.
“So are lawyers.”
The administrator sighed.
“She was accused of accessing patient files without authorization.”
“Whose?”
“We cannot disclose that.”
“My son’s?”
Silence.
Vincent had his answer.
An hour later, his attorney secured what could legally be obtained.
Enzo’s birth records appeared normal.
Weight.
Vital signs.
Discharge.
But one file-access log stood out.
Mara Ellison had opened Enzo’s chart nineteen times after discharge.
Nineteen.
Vincent stared at the number.
“Why?”
Daniel asked the hospital’s compliance officer.
“She claimed she was conducting follow-up quality checks.”
“Was she?”
“No.”
“Who authorized them?”
“No one.”
Vincent’s phone rang.
Emily.
He answered immediately.
“What happened?”
Her voice sounded tight.
“Someone came to the mansion.”
“Who?”
“A woman.”
His stomach dropped.
“Name?”
“She said Mara.”
Vincent stood.
“Where is she now?”
“Security stopped her.”
“Do not let her leave.”
Emily paused.
“She says she came to tell you the truth.”
Forty minutes later, Vincent entered the library.
Mara Ellison sat beside the window.
She was in her early forties, exhausted-looking, hands clenched around a coffee cup.
Emily stood nearby.
Lily was nowhere in sight.
Good.
Vincent sat opposite Mara.
“Start.”
Mara looked toward Daniel.
“I want legal protection.”
“That depends on what you did.”
“I didn’t hurt Enzo.”
“Then what did you do?”
She closed her eyes.
“I altered hospital access records.”
“Why?”
“Cassandra asked me to check his chart.”
“Why?”
“She was afraid.”
“Of what?”
Mara looked at him.
“Of losing you.”
Vincent almost laughed.
“This is not a romantic explanation.”
“No.”
Mara took a breath.
“Cassandra had been pregnant once.”
Vincent went still.
Years before they met?
Mara continued.
“She lost the baby late in pregnancy.”
Vincent knew nothing about this.
“She was devastated,” Mara said. “Her family kept it private. She never received proper counseling. When she became involved with you and Enzo was born…”
Vincent’s voice sharpened.
“Enzo was already born when Cassandra and I began discussing marriage.”
“Yes.”
“She became terrified that if anything went wrong with him, you would emotionally disappear from everyone.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Fear rarely does.”
Emily stood silently.
Mara continued.
“Cassandra asked me to monitor his medical chart. At first, I thought it was grief. Then she started asking me to interpret every small issue. Reflux. Weight fluctuations. Sleep.”
“So she had you spy on my son.”
“Yes.”
“Why alter nursery records?”
“I didn’t know she was doing that.”
Vincent watched her carefully.
“Why were you secretly inside my nursery?”
Mara lowered her gaze.
“Cassandra asked me to examine him.”
“Without my permission.”
“Yes.”
Vincent stood.
Daniel moved slightly, ready.
Vincent walked to the window.
His anger was enormous.
But anger did not answer the real question.
“Did Enzo have a medical problem?”
“No.”
“Was he ever in danger?”
“Not medically. Not from anything I saw.”
“Then why did Cassandra tell staff to make his records look easier?”
Mara hesitated.
“She believed if you saw how demanding infancy really was, you would withdraw.”
Vincent turned.
“From my own son?”
“She didn’t understand you.”
“No.”
Emily spoke quietly.
“She understood the version of him she wanted.”
Everyone looked at her.
Vincent realized the same could be said of him.
He had understood the version of Cassandra that fitted neatly into his life.
Elegant.
Capable.
Uncomplicated.
He had not looked further.
Mara continued.
“When Emily began noticing inconsistencies, Cassandra panicked. She said if you discovered the private medical checks, you would end the engagement.”
“She was right.”
“She thought removing Emily would contain everything.”
“And Hargrove?”
“Cassandra told me Hargrove could solve personnel problems.”
Emily let out a bitter breath.
“She certainly tried.”
Vincent sat again.
“What about the medication in Emily’s tea?”
Mara looked horrified.
“I knew nothing about that.”
“Do you believe Cassandra ordered it?”
Mara hesitated.
“No.”
Emily frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Cassandra is controlling, secretive, and terrified of scandal. But drugging someone creates scandal.”
Vincent thought of Mrs. Hargrove.
The financial fraud.
The threats.
Her own reasons to silence Emily.
Perhaps two motives had overlapped.
Cassandra wanted Emily dismissed.
Hargrove wanted Emily silenced.
And both had used the same manufactured incident.
“What is the second ledger?” Vincent asked.
Mara shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Vincent believed her.
Before leaving, Mara paused at the library door.
“There’s something else.”
Vincent looked up.
“The USB drive?”
Her face changed.
“You found it.”
“Who made the recordings?”
Mara looked toward the hallway.
“Nora.”
Vincent frowned.
“Nora?”
“She started recording because she was afraid Cassandra would blame her if something went wrong.”
A secret witness.
A frightened nanny.
A housekeeper stealing.
A fiancée obsessed with control.
An employee gathering evidence.
Everyone had been documenting everyone else.
The Moretti mansion had become a place where nobody trusted truth to survive without proof.
Mara left.
Vincent remained in the library.
Emily approached the desk.
“There’s one door nobody has opened yet.”
He looked at her.
“What door?”
“Mrs. Hargrove’s office.”
“Police searched it.”
“The visible office.”
Vincent frowned.
Emily pointed toward the service wing.
“There’s another room behind the linen wall.”
“How do you know?”
“Lily found it months ago.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
“Of course she did.”
They walked downstairs.
Behind a sliding linen cabinet, Daniel discovered a narrow locked door.
He forced it open.
Inside was no office.
It was an archive.
Boxes.
Payroll envelopes.
Staff files.
Copies of passports.
Signed blank resignation forms.
Photographs.
And on the far shelf, a folder bearing Emily’s name.
Inside was a prepared termination letter dated that morning.
Reason:
THEFT, INSUBORDINATION, CHILD ENDANGERMENT.
At the bottom was a witness signature.
Cassandra Vale.
But the signature had been written before any of the supposed incidents took place.
Just like Enzo’s 11:30 feeding.
The lie had been prepared in advance.
Again.
May you like
And this time, Vincent had the entire plan on paper.
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