Chapter 2 — The Witness No One Expected
Chapter 2 — The Witness No One Expected
The foyer fell into absolute silence.
Every servant who had rushed toward the staircase stopped where they stood.
The only sound was the last pearl rolling across the marble floor before it finally came to rest.
Nathaniel slowly turned toward the little girl.
"Lily..."
His six-year-old niece stood barefoot beside the bronze statue, clutching her stuffed rabbit.
Her small voice never wavered.
"I saw Aunt Vivian."
"Grandma was walking down the stairs."
"Aunt Vivian grabbed her arm."
"Then she pushed her."
Vivian's face turned ghostly white.
"She's a child!" she shouted.
"She's confused!"
Lily shook her head.
"No."
"You said..."
The little girl swallowed hard.
"You said Grandma was ruining everything."
Nathaniel looked back at his wife.
For the first time since they had married, he noticed something he had never wanted to see.
There wasn't fear in Vivian's eyes.
There was calculation.
"Call an ambulance," he ordered one of the servants.
"And call the police."
Vivian rushed toward him.
"Nathaniel, please..."
"You can't believe a child over your own wife."
He stepped away from her.
"I believe evidence."
At the hospital, the doctors fought for Eleanor Ashford's life.
She had suffered a severe head injury and multiple fractures.
She remained unconscious.
Nathaniel sat outside the intensive care unit while detectives searched the mansion.
Hours later, Detective Rachel Monroe approached carrying a clear evidence bag.
Inside were the broken reading glasses...
...and several white pearls stained with blood.
"We found something else," she said.
"A security camera."
Nathaniel frowned.
"The foyer camera?"
"It wasn't recording."
"The cable had been cut."
She paused.
"But someone forgot about another camera."
"The one facing the library entrance."
May you like
Nathaniel's heartbeat quickened.
"It captures part of the staircase."
