Chapter 2: The Secret Behind the Locked Door
Vanessa Ashford stared at Clara as if she had forgotten the woman was even capable of speaking.
The mansion had rules.
Servants did not question family members.
Servants did not touch private rooms.
Servants did not interfere with the lives of people above their station.
And Clara Bennett had just broken every rule.
“You’re becoming confused about your position,” Vanessa said quietly.
Her voice was calm, but everyone who knew Vanessa understood what came after that calmness.
Cruelty.
Clara looked back at Emma.
The little girl was leaning against the wall now, breathing harder with every second.
“I know exactly what my position is,” Clara replied. “I’m the only person standing here trying to help her.”
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed.
“You should be careful.”
“I’ve been careful for five years.”
The answer surprised her.
Before Vanessa could respond, a deep voice echoed from the staircase.
“What is happening?”
Everyone turned.
Adrian Ashford stood there.
The billionaire CEO who controlled half the city’s technology industry.
A man newspapers described as ruthless.
A man competitors feared.
But tonight, all of that disappeared when he saw his daughter.
“Emma?”
He crossed the hallway instantly.
“What happened?”
Emma reached for him weakly.
“Daddy…”
Adrian picked her up.
His expression changed when he felt how fast her heart was beating.
“Where is her inhaler?”
Nobody answered.
That silence told him everything.
His eyes moved slowly toward Vanessa.
“Vanessa.”
She immediately stepped forward.
“She was having a tantrum. Clara exaggerated the situation.”
Clara almost laughed.
A tantrum?
A child struggling to breathe was a tantrum?
Adrian looked at his daughter.
Then at Clara.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
The entire hallway became silent.
For five years, Clara had learned to stay quiet.
But now Emma was in danger.
So she spoke.
“Her inhaler disappeared. She said Mrs. Ashford took it and locked it inside the office.”
Vanessa’s face turned pale.
“That is a lie.”
Adrian walked toward the office door.
“Open it.”
Vanessa didn’t move.
“I said open it.”
The authority in his voice shook the entire hallway.
After a long pause, Vanessa reached into her pocket.
And pulled out a key.
Clara noticed something strange.
The key was not from the office.
It was from the old storage room beside it.
Adrian noticed too.
He looked at Vanessa.
“What are you hiding?”
For the first time, Vanessa looked afraid.
Before anyone could answer, Clara saw something on the floor.
A small piece of paper.
She picked it up.
Her eyes widened.
Because written on it was a name she had never expected to see.
Evelyn Ashford.
Adrian’s dead wife.
Emma’s mother.
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And underneath the name were four words:
She was murdered.
