CHAPTER 2 (PART 2)
CHAPTER 2 (PART 2)
The shrill sound of the security alarm echoed through every corridor of Blackwell Estate.
Red emergency lights flashed across the library walls, turning the polished mahogany shelves into shadows of crimson and black.
Several guests screamed.
Someone shouted, "What's happening?"
Nathan immediately stepped in front of his mother.
"Everyone stay where you are!"
The head of security pressed a finger to the earpiece hidden beneath his collar.
"Control Room, report!"
Static.
Then a panicked voice answered.
"Someone cut the main security system."
"What?"
"We've lost camera feeds."
"Every camera?"
"Except the emergency backup."
Nathan's jaw tightened.
"This wasn't an accident."
Across the room, Emma instinctively pulled Ben into her arms.
The little boy buried his face against her shoulder.
"I don't like the loud noise."
"It's okay," she whispered, stroking his hair. "I'm here."
Mrs. Blackwell looked toward Nathan.
"The will."
Nathan nodded grimly.
"Someone wants it gone."
He turned toward two security officers.
"No one leaves this house."
"Lock every entrance."
The guards rushed away.
Nathan looked back at the computer.
The screen remained black.
"Can we recover it?"
One of the estate's IT technicians hurried into the library.
"The system was remotely shut down."
"Can you restart it?"
"I'll try."
Vanessa folded her arms tightly across her chest.
"This is getting ridiculous."
Nathan slowly turned toward her.
"Ridiculous?"
She forced a laugh.
"Obviously someone is trying to manipulate you."
Nathan didn't respond.
Instead, he walked toward the hidden compartment inside the wall.
The envelopes...
The journal...
The necklace...
Everything was still there.
Nothing had been stolen.
Not yet.
Then Ben quietly spoke.
"Mr. Nathan?"
Nathan knelt beside him.
"Yes?"
"The bad man."
Nathan frowned.
"What bad man?"
"The man with the black hat."
Emma blinked.
"What man?"
Ben pointed toward the hallway.
"He ran away."
Everyone looked toward the open library door.
Nathan asked gently,
"When did you see him?"
"When the loud noise started."
"He came from downstairs."
"What did he do?"
"He looked inside here."
Ben pointed toward the hidden compartment.
"Then he got scared because everyone was coming."
The security chief frowned.
"Did anyone else see him?"
No one answered.
Nathan stood.
"Check every camera that still works."
The technician nodded.
"We still have the emergency system."
Minutes later...
One monitor flickered back to life.
A grainy black-and-white recording appeared.
The hallway outside the library.
The timestamp read:
7:48 PM
Exactly thirty seconds before the alarm.
Everyone leaned closer.
A tall man wearing a black baseball cap hurried toward the library door.
He glanced around nervously.
Then reached into his pocket.
A small electronic device flashed briefly.
The lights immediately failed.
"There!" one guard shouted.
"He disabled the system."
Nathan narrowed his eyes.
"Zoom in."
The technician enlarged the image.
Although the face remained partially hidden beneath the cap...
One detail became unmistakable.
The man's right hand bore an unusual tattoo.
A black compass.
Mrs. Blackwell gasped.
"I know that symbol."
Nathan looked at her.
"You do?"
She nodded slowly.
"Years ago..."
"Your father fired someone."
"His personal driver."
"His name was Victor Hale."
"The compass was tattooed on his hand."
Nathan frowned.
"Why was he fired?"
Mrs. Blackwell closed her eyes.
"Charles caught him stealing confidential documents."
Emma suddenly remembered something.
"Victor..."
Nathan looked toward her.
"You know him?"
"I don't know him personally."
"But..."
She hesitated.
"About three months ago..."
"I saw a man with that same tattoo speaking to Miss Vanessa outside the greenhouse."
The room became silent.
Vanessa's head snapped toward Emma.
"That's a lie."
Emma remained calm.
"I didn't know it mattered then."
"You never mentioned it," Vanessa accused.
"I wasn't asked."
Nathan stared at Vanessa.
"Were you meeting Victor Hale?"
"No."
Emma quietly added,
"He gave you an envelope."
Vanessa's breathing became uneven.
"You couldn't possibly know that."
"I watched from the kitchen window."
"You smiled."
"And then you put the envelope inside your purse."
Nathan spoke softly.
"Vanessa."
She shook her head.
"It wasn't important."
"What was inside?"
"I don't remember."
Nathan's eyes hardened.
"You don't remember?"
"No."
Ben tugged at Emma's sleeve again.
"Mommy."
"What is it?"
"The lady isn't telling the truth."
Emma smiled sadly.
"Why do you think that?"
"Because she told the man..."
He frowned while trying to remember.
"...'After the wedding, everything will finally belong to us.'"
The sentence struck the room like lightning.
Nathan stared at Vanessa.
"Did you say that?"
Vanessa laughed nervously.
"He's four."
"He doesn't understand adult conversations."
Ben looked confused.
"I remember."
"You were wearing the shiny dress."
"You gave the man money."
Emma felt chills run down her spine.
Nathan slowly walked toward Vanessa.
Each step echoed across the silent library.
"Look at me."
She reluctantly met his eyes.
"Have you been working with Victor Hale?"
"No."
"Did you know my father's second will existed?"
"No."
"Did you know about Daniel Carter?"
"No."
Nathan studied her face.
For years he had believed he could read people.
Business competitors.
Negotiators.
Investors.
Now...
He wasn't sure he had ever truly known the woman standing in front of him.
Before he could ask another question...
The IT technician suddenly exclaimed.
"Mr. Blackwell!"
"I recovered another file."
Nathan hurried back to the computer.
The recovered folder contained only one video.
No title.
No date.
He pressed play.
The screen showed Charles Blackwell sitting alone in his office.
He looked older.
Tired.
His voice was calm.
"If you're watching this..."
"...then someone finally found the truth."
Nathan felt his chest tighten.
His father looked directly into the camera.
"There are people I trusted..."
"...who have spent years trying to erase my mistakes instead of correcting them."
He paused.
"If anything happens to me..."
"...do not blame Nathan."
"He knew nothing."
Nathan lowered his eyes.
Then Charles said something that made every person in the room stop breathing.
"The person helping to hide my second family..."
"...is someone still living inside this house."
Silence.
Charles reached toward the camera.
"I have left proof."
"But the proof is hidden somewhere no one would think to search."
The video ended.
Everyone remained frozen.
Nathan whispered,
"Where?"
Mrs. Blackwell looked around the library.
Charles had loved puzzles.
He had hidden birthday presents inside fake books.
Secret notes inside chess sets.
Business contracts inside old atlases.
If he had hidden evidence...
It wouldn't be somewhere obvious.
Then Ben suddenly pointed toward the enormous portrait hanging above the fireplace.
"The bird."
Everyone looked up.
Nathan frowned.
"What bird?"
Ben smiled.
"The little bird."
"It's behind Grandpa's picture."
Nathan followed the direction of Ben's finger.
High above the fireplace, carved into the ornate wooden frame, sat a tiny golden eagle.
It looked decorative.
Almost invisible.
Mrs. Blackwell's eyes widened.
"Oh my God..."
Nathan stepped onto a nearby chair and reached toward the carving.
The eagle moved.
It was a switch.
A soft mechanical click echoed through the library.
Behind the massive bookshelf...
Something unlocked.
The shelf slowly swung outward.
Revealing...
A narrow hidden room no one in the mansion knew existed.
Nathan stared into the darkness.
On a small wooden table inside the secret room rested a single locked metal box.
And engraved across the lid were seven chilling words:
OPEN ONLY IF I AM GONE.
May you like
End of Chapter 2.
To be continued in Chapter 3...
