Chapter 2 – The Woman No One Saw
Chapter 2 – The Woman No One Saw
The ambulance carried Lily to the hospital with Leo at her side.
Beatrice refused to leave until she knew the little girl was safe.
Only then did one of the paramedics notice the swelling on Beatrice's wrist.
"You need to be examined too."
She shook her head.
"I'm fine."
The paramedic looked at the blood on her face.
"No, you're not."
Three hours later...
A pediatric pulmonologist stepped into the waiting room.
"Lily is stable."
"The delay in receiving her inhaler made the attack much more serious, but she responded well to treatment."
Leo closed his eyes in relief.
For the first time since entering the mansion that evening, he breathed normally.
Then he turned toward Beatrice.
"You saved my daughter's life."
She lowered her head.
"I only did what anyone should have done."
Leo looked at the bruise spreading across her cheek.
"No."
"You did what everyone else was too afraid to do."
The mansion's security director arrived carrying a hard drive.
"We recovered the interior surveillance footage."
Leo watched every minute in silence.
Victoria taking Lily's inhaler from her bedroom drawer.
Victoria locking the frightened child inside the cellar.
Beatrice begging her to stop.
The slap.
The shove.
The bleeding.
The desperate phone call to Leo after every other attempt to help had failed.
When the recording ended, no one spoke.
Leo quietly closed the laptop.
"There will be no wedding."
May you like
His voice was calm.
"But there will be consequences."
