Chapter 9 - The Story Serena Told First.
By the time Victor returned to the mansion, two detectives were already waiting outside the gate.
Evelyn had warned him not to assume the report would disappear because security footage existed.
A complaint had been made.
It would be documented.
Lily would have to answer questions.
Victor understood that.
He still hated it.
Lily sat in the back seat beside Evelyn during the drive home.
She barely spoke.
When they reached the gate, she looked at the unmarked police car and whispered, "She planned this."
Evelyn answered carefully.
"Maybe."
"She told me yesterday that no one would believe the nanny."
Victor turned from the front seat.
"Then we show them facts."
The detectives introduced themselves as Rebecca Sloan and Marcus Bell.
They were polite but direct.
Sloan looked at Lily's bruised cheek.
"Ms. Hart, we need to hear your version."
Evelyn said, "And she will give it."
Victor stayed nearby but did not interrupt.
Lily described the argument.
She described Serena reaching for Oliver.
She described pulling him back.
She described the slap.
She described being pushed.
She described Serena grabbing her hair.
Sloan took notes.
Bell asked, "Did you ever strike Ms. Vale?"
"No."
"Push her?"
Lily hesitated.
"I pushed her hand away when she grabbed my hair."
"Did you prevent her from holding the child?"
"Yes."
Bell looked up.
"Why?"
"Because Oliver was terrified."
"Of Ms. Vale?"
Lily looked toward Victor.
"Yes."
Sloan asked, "Had you ever seen Ms. Vale hurt him?"
"No."
Victor appreciated Lily's precision.
She did not exaggerate.
She did not claim what she could not prove.
"Had you seen behavior that concerned you?"
"Yes."
Lily explained the amber bottle.
She explained the camera outage.
She explained the forged-looking termination letter.
Sloan's pen slowed.
"This is significantly different from Ms. Vale's statement."
Evelyn said, "We have security footage."
Bell looked at Victor.
"Of the incident?"
"Partially recovered."
"Can we see it?"
Daniel entered with the laptop.
"We can provide a copy through counsel."
Sloan nodded.
"That would help."
Victor looked at Evelyn.
She gave a slight nod.
Daniel played the recovered portion from 2:03.
The detectives watched Serena offer Lily money to leave.
They watched Lily refuse.
They watched the corrupted end of the clip.
Bell looked at Daniel.
"You don't have the physical confrontation?"
"Not yet."
"Why not?"
"Someone deleted that section."
Sloan glanced at Victor.
"Who had access?"
"My account was used."
"By you?"
"No."
"Can you prove that?"
"We have logs showing a secondary device registered to Serena's iPad."
Evelyn touched Victor's arm lightly.
A reminder not to overstate.
He stopped.
The detectives requested copies of the logs.
Then Bell asked a question Victor had not expected.
"Mr. Blackwood, were you aware Ms. Hart had previously contacted a private investigator about Serena Vale?"
Victor turned toward Lily.
She looked stunned.
"I did what?"
Bell checked his notes.
"Ms. Vale says you hired someone to follow her six weeks ago."
Lily shook her head.
"No."
"She provided the name of an investigator."
"I don't know any investigator."
Bell said the name.
"Thomas Keene."
Lily's expression remained blank.
Victor knew the name.
"I know him."
Everyone looked at him.
Victor continued.
"Keene has done corporate background work for Blackwood Group."
Sloan asked, "Did you hire him to investigate Ms. Vale?"
"No."
"Did Ms. Hart have access to him through you?"
"Not that I know of."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"I can check communications."
Bell closed his notebook halfway.
"Ms. Vale says Keene met Lily twice in Brooklyn."
Lily stared at him.
"I've never met him."
Sloan watched her carefully.
"Would you consent to showing us relevant messages on your phone?"
Evelyn answered before Lily could.
"We'll discuss an appropriate way to provide records."
Sloan nodded.
"Fair."
Victor understood the purpose of Serena's claim.
It did not have to be true.
It only had to create enough questions to make Lily look less like a witness and more like someone with an agenda.
Bell asked, "Ms. Hart, why did you take this job?"
Lily's eyes flicked toward Victor.
"Because I needed work."
"Did your sister have a connection to Serena Vale?"
Lily went still.
Victor felt anger rise.
Serena had told them about Claire.
"Yes," Lily said.
Bell waited.
"What connection?"
"My sister worked at a company owned by Serena's brother."
"Did she have a dispute with that company?"
"Yes."
"Did that influence how you felt about Ms. Vale?"
Lily chose her answer carefully.
"It made me cautious after I recognized her."
"But you stayed employed in the house."
"Because my job was caring for Oliver."
Sloan asked, "Did you ever consider that staying gave you access to Ms. Vale?"
Lily's face crumpled for half a second.
Victor stepped forward.
Evelyn caught his sleeve.
Lily answered on her own.
"No."
Her voice was steady again.
"I stayed because I loved taking care of that little boy."
Bell looked toward the nursery.
"Ms. Vale alleges that attachment became inappropriate."
Victor spoke before anyone could stop him.
"My son is attached to the person who feeds him breakfast, reads to him, puts him down for naps, and stays with him when I travel."
Bell looked at him.
Victor continued.
"That is not evidence against her."
Evelyn gave Victor a look that said he had made his point and should stop.
He did.
The interview lasted another forty minutes.
When it ended, Sloan stood by the foyer door.
"We're going to review the recordings and speak with Ms. Vale again."
Lily asked, "Am I in trouble?"
Sloan did not sugarcoat it.
"Right now, we're gathering facts."
She glanced at Lily's cheek.
"Document your injuries."
Bell added, "And do not contact Ms. Vale."
"I won't."
The detectives left.
Lily stood in the foyer as if all her energy had gone with them.
Marta came from the kitchen and quietly handed her a glass of water.
"Drink."
Lily took it.
"I'm not thirsty."
"Then hold it until you are."
Marta looked at Victor with the blunt disappointment of someone who had known him since his twenties.
"This house became too interested in looking calm."
Victor frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"It means everyone saw Miss Serena was angry when you traveled, but nobody wanted to be the person who told the billionaire his fiancée was difficult."
Victor absorbed the criticism.
"Did you see her hit Lily before?"
"No."
"Did you see her hurt Oliver?"
"No."
Marta shook her head.
"But I saw people change how they moved when she entered a room."
Lily looked at her.
Marta continued.
"The cook stopped asking questions."
"The night housekeeper stopped going upstairs unless Lily was there."
"I started writing down when Serena asked staff to leave early."
Victor stared at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Marta gave him a sad look.
"Because you were happy."
The answer struck harder than Victor expected.
"That is not a good reason."
"No."
Marta nodded.
"It is only the true reason."
Victor looked around the foyer.
His employees had not remained silent because Serena's behavior seemed normal.
They had remained silent because his happiness had become another form of authority.
No one wanted to be blamed for damaging it.
Victor looked at Lily.
"That changes now."
Lily did not reassure him.
"It has to change after the crisis too."
"It will."
She nodded once.
The statement was not forgiveness.
It was a condition.
Victor accepted it.
Lily stood in the foyer as if all her energy had gone with the detectives.
Victor turned to Evelyn.
"Serena knew about Claire."
"Obviously."
"She knew the investigator's name too."
Daniel looked up from his phone.
"That's the part I don't like."
Victor frowned.
"Why?"
"Thomas Keene did conduct a background review of Serena."
Victor stared at him.
"When?"
"Two months ago."
"I didn't order it."
Daniel shook his head.
"Neither did I."
Evelyn asked, "Who did?"
Daniel looked at the internal request record.
"It was submitted through Victor's executive office account."
Victor felt a familiar chill.
"The same compromised account."
"Yes."
Daniel scrolled.
"And Serena was listed as the subject."
Lily frowned.
"Why would Serena order an investigation into herself?"
Nobody answered at first.
Then Evelyn looked at Victor.
"Because if she controlled the investigation, she controlled what the file said."
Daniel opened the final report.
His face changed.
"Sir."
Victor stepped beside him.
The report stated that Serena Vale had no professional connection to BrightPath Family Development.
It stated that she had never been employed by her brother.
It stated that no credible complaints had ever been made against the company.
Every statement contradicted the evidence they had found in Unit 318.
Victor asked, "Who received this report?"
Daniel scrolled to the distribution list.
Only one address appeared.
Victor Blackwood.
But the delivery log showed the email had been opened and deleted before Victor ever saw it.
Daniel whispered, "Someone created a clean background file and buried it in your account."
Victor looked toward Lily.
Serena had not merely reacted when Lily found the truth.
May you like
She had prepared for the truth long before Lily knew she was looking for it.
Page
