Chapter 3 - THE DOCTOR FOUND OLD INJURIES
Victor Blackwood had frightened powerful men without ever raising his voice.
But nothing had ever frightened him like the expression on Dr. Rebecca Bennett’s face when she walked out of Ethan’s examination room.
Victor stood immediately.
“How bad?”
Dr. Bennett removed her glasses.
“His right arm has a fracture near the elbow.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“Will it heal?”
“We expect a full recovery. He’s young. That helps.”
Victor nodded once.
It should have relieved him.
It didn’t.
Because the doctor wasn’t finished.
“There’s something else.”
Victor became still.
“What?”
Dr. Bennett glanced toward the hallway.
“Come with me.”
She led him into a consultation room and closed the door.
On the wall was an image from Ethan’s X-ray.
Victor stared at it.
“I need you to understand that what I’m about to say is preliminary,” Dr. Bennett said. “But the fracture he suffered today is not the only injury I’m concerned about.”
Victor slowly looked at her.
“What other injury?”
She enlarged another image.
“There are indications of an older rib injury.”
Victor didn’t breathe.
“Older?”
“Yes.”
“How old?”
“Several weeks. Possibly more.”
Victor stared at the screen.
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“He fell out of his crib last month.”
Dr. Bennett’s expression remained careful.
“You told me about that when I saw him afterward. There were no symptoms suggesting a rib injury at the time.”
Victor remembered the day.
Serena had called him during a meeting.
Ethan fell.
Lily wasn’t paying attention.
That was what Serena had said.
Victor had come home furious.
Lily had stood in the nursery doorway, pale and silent, while Serena explained everything.
Victor had almost fired her.
Almost.
But Ethan had screamed whenever anyone tried to remove Lily from the room.
So she stayed.
Victor’s stomach turned.
“What exactly are you telling me?”
“I’m telling you Ethan may have been injured before today.”
“By someone?”
“I’m telling you we need to ask questions.”
Victor looked back at the X-ray.
His son.
Fourteen months old.
Unable to defend himself.
Unable to explain.
Victor had spent his entire adult life believing he knew when people were lying.
Yet he had invited someone into his house.
Into Ethan’s nursery.
Into his family.
And perhaps he had failed to see what was happening directly in front of him.
“Where’s Lily?”
“Still being examined.”
“Is she all right?”
“She has severe bruising around her abdomen and ribs. No internal bleeding, thankfully.”
Victor shut his eyes briefly.
“Can I speak with her?”
“Yes, but don’t pressure her.”
Victor almost laughed.
He didn’t.
“I think I’ve done enough damage by not asking questions sooner.”
When he entered Lily’s room, she was sitting upright against white pillows.
A blanket covered her legs.
Her dark hair was tangled.
A bruise had already begun forming beneath her collarbone.
Lily looked toward the door.
The instant she saw Victor, fear crossed her face.
Victor stopped.
That hurt more than he expected.
“I’m not here to accuse you.”
Lily’s shoulders lowered slightly.
“How’s Ethan?”
“He has a fracture.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Oh God.”
“He’s going to recover.”
Lily covered her mouth.
Victor remained near the door.
“The doctor found evidence of an older injury.”
Her hand dropped.
Victor watched her carefully.
Lily looked away.
“You knew.”
It wasn’t a question.
She said nothing.
“Lily.”
“Please.”
“How long?”
She stared at the blanket.
“I tried to tell you.”
Victor felt something cold move through him.
“When?”
“The day after he fell from the crib.”
“You told me you didn’t see the fall.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then what did you try to tell me?”
“That he hadn’t fallen.”
Victor stared at her.
Lily’s voice trembled.
“I left the nursery for four minutes to warm his bottle. Serena came upstairs while I was gone. When I returned, Ethan was screaming. Serena said she’d found him on the floor.”
Victor remembered.
Serena crying.
Serena blaming Lily.
Serena insisting the nursery gates were unsafe.
“She told me you left the crib rail down.”
“I never leave it down.”
Victor looked toward the window.
Chicago glowed beyond the glass.
“What happened next?”
“I checked the crib.”
“And?”
“The rail was locked.”
Victor’s head turned.
Lily continued.
“There was no way Ethan climbed out.”
“He could have—”
“He wasn’t walking yet.”
Victor stopped.
Of course.
Ethan had only begun standing independently two weeks later.
He could not have climbed over a crib rail.
Victor felt sick.
“Why didn’t you tell me all of this?”
“I tried.”
“I would remember.”
“You were in your study.”
Victor frowned.
“Serena came in.”
Memory surfaced.
Lily standing at his desk.
Serena appearing behind her.
Serena saying, Is she bothering you about her salary again?
Victor had been receiving bad news about a shipment and had waved Lily away.
He remembered her expression now.
Not greed.
Fear.
“I dismissed you.”
“Yes.”
Victor looked down.
“I’m sorry.”
Lily blinked in surprise.
Men like Victor Blackwood rarely apologized.
Victor did not care.
“Tell me everything.”
Lily’s eyes moved toward the door.
Victor noticed.
“She isn’t here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Serena is still at the mansion with investigators.”
Lily looked alarmed.
“Investigators?”
“Chicago police and child protection were contacted because of Ethan’s injuries.”
Lily’s breathing changed.
Victor pulled a chair closer but did not sit until she nodded.
“What are you afraid of?”
Lily stared at him.
“You don’t know her.”
“I’m beginning to realize that.”
“She knows people.”
“So do I.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
Lily swallowed.
“She knows exactly how to make herself look innocent.”
Victor waited.
Lily finally whispered, “The first time I saw her hurt Ethan was almost two months ago.”
His fingers tightened around the chair.
“What did she do?”
“He was crying because he was teething. She picked him up and told him to stop.”
Lily’s eyes filled.
“When he kept crying, she squeezed his cheeks so hard her nails left marks.”
Victor’s face went blank.
“I took him from her.”
“What happened?”
“She told me if I ever touched her again, she would tell you I stole from the house.”
Victor remembered a missing bracelet.
Serena’s bracelet.
Found beneath Lily’s mattress.
“You were accused of theft.”
“Yes.”
Victor stared at her.
“You said you didn’t know how it got there.”
“I didn’t.”
“Serena found it.”
Lily nodded.
Victor stood suddenly.
The chair scraped across the floor.
Every instinct inside him screamed to return to the mansion.
But Lily caught his sleeve.
“Victor.”
It was the first time she had ever used his first name.
He looked down.
“Please don’t confront her yet.”
“Why?”
“Because she’ll destroy the evidence.”
“What evidence?”
Lily released him.
For several seconds, she looked as if she regretted speaking.
Then she said, “There was a camera.”
Victor frowned.
“The nursery camera?”
“No.”
“A hidden one.”
Victor went completely still.
“I didn’t install a hidden camera.”
“I know.”
“Then who did?”
“I think Ethan’s mother did.”
Victor’s face changed.
Lily continued carefully.
“I found it inside the wooden music box in Ethan’s closet. The one that belonged to Clara.”
Victor’s late wife.
Ethan’s mother.
Clara had died eleven months after Ethan was born—
No.
Victor corrected himself.
Three months after Ethan was born.
A highway accident.
A loss that had nearly destroyed him.
“The music box?”
“There’s a tiny lens behind one of the carved flowers.”
Victor remembered Clara joking that no nanny would ever fool her.
She had been obsessive about security.
Protective.
Smart.
“What was recorded?”
“I don’t know.”
“You never checked?”
“I couldn’t. The memory card was gone.”
Victor felt the room grow colder.
“Serena.”
Lily nodded.
“Three nights ago, I saw her leave Ethan’s room after midnight. She went downstairs into the security office.”
“Why were you awake?”
“Ethan had a fever.”
“What did Serena take?”
“I couldn’t see clearly. But it was small. She put it inside her purse.”
Victor walked toward the door.
Lily called after him.
“There’s more.”
He stopped.
“I heard her talking to someone.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did she say?”
Lily looked directly at him.
“She said, ‘Once I marry Victor, the child won’t matter anymore.’”
Victor’s blood seemed to stop moving.
“What exactly did she say?”
Lily’s voice became smaller.
“She said, ‘Six weeks. Then everything becomes mine.’”
Silence filled the room.
Victor slowly sat back down.
He had expected cruelty.
Maybe jealousy.
Maybe resentment toward Ethan.
But this sounded different.
Planned.
Six weeks.
Their wedding date.
Victor remembered paperwork Serena had pushed toward him the previous month.
Estate revisions.
Emergency guardianship.
Trust amendments.
She had told him it was normal before a wedding.
His attorney had advised waiting.
Serena had been furious.
Victor stood again.
This time Lily didn’t stop him.
He called Marco.
The security chief answered immediately.
“Boss.”
“Search Serena’s room.”
“We already started.”
“Find her purse.”
A pause.
“We did.”
Victor’s pulse changed.
“And?”
“It’s empty.”
Victor stared at Lily.
May you like
Marco continued.
“And Serena Montigue is gone.”
