CHAPTER 2 – The Basement Secret
CHAPTER 2 – The Basement Secret
For several endless seconds, no one moved.
Nathan Harrington stood at the bottom of the stairs, his eyes locked on the leather riding crop lying at Victoria's feet.
The three children stared at him as though they weren't sure he was real.
Victoria recovered first.
"Nathan..." she whispered, forcing a trembling smile. "This isn't what it looks like."
He didn't answer.
Instead, he slowly removed his jacket and draped it over the shoulders of the smallest girl, who was shivering so violently her teeth chattered.
"What's your name?" he asked gently.
"Emma," she whispered.
"How long have you been down here?"
The little girl looked at Victoria before lowering her eyes.
Victoria stepped forward.
"They've been misbehaving. I was only disciplining them."
Nathan finally looked at his wife.
"With a riding crop?"
"They're difficult children."
"No."
His voice was calm.
"They're terrified children."
The oldest boy suddenly burst into tears.
"We tried to be good, Daddy."
Nathan's heart stopped.
Tried?
That meant this wasn't the first time.
He knelt in front of his son.
"What happened?"
The boy hesitated.
Then, with trembling hands, he pulled up the sleeve of his pajama shirt.
Dark bruises covered his small arm.
Nathan felt something inside him collapse.
Emma quietly added,
"Mommy says we have to smile when people visit."
Another child whispered,
"She says no one would believe us because everyone loves her."
Nathan slowly stood.
He turned toward Victoria.
"How long?"
She swallowed.
"I can explain."
"How..."
"...long?"
Her silence answered the question.
Years.
The woman he had trusted with everything had built an entirely different life whenever he traveled.
Nathan reached into his pocket.
Victoria's face drained of color.
"Who are you calling?"
"The police."
"You can't!"
"I already have."
As if on cue, security alarms echoed through the mansion.
Because before dialing emergency services...
Nathan had sent a silent distress signal directly to the Harrington family security team.
Within seconds, armed security officers flooded the basement.
Victoria backed away.
"Nathan, please..."
But he never looked at her again.
He lifted Emma into his arms while another guard carried the younger boy upstairs.
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For the first time in years...
The children left the basement.
