Chapter 1 – The Little Witness
Chapter 1 – The Little Witness
Nathaniel stared at Vivien for several long seconds before answering.
"She's alive."
Vivien let out a relieved breath and reached for him, but he stepped past her to pour himself a cup of coffee.
It was the first time in three years he hadn't accepted her embrace.
She noticed.
"So... she remembers what happened?" Vivien asked carefully.
Nathaniel looked into his coffee instead of at her.
"She remembers enough."
Before Vivien could respond, someone quietly entered through the back kitchen door.
It was Rosa Hernandez, the Whitmore family's longtime housekeeper.
Behind her stood her eight-year-old daughter, Lily.
Because school had closed early due to a burst water pipe, Rosa had been forced to bring Lily to work that afternoon.
Nathaniel barely noticed them.
Vivien did.
The moment Lily's eyes met hers, the little girl immediately hid behind her mother's skirt.
Vivien's smile froze.
"Lily," she said gently. "Why are you afraid of me?"
The child didn't answer.
She simply clutched Rosa tighter.
Nathaniel frowned.
Children rarely reacted that way without reason.
Later that afternoon, Nathaniel reviewed the estate's security footage.
Something was wrong.
Every hallway camera worked perfectly.
Every entrance camera worked perfectly.
Every exterior camera worked perfectly.
Only one camera had mysteriously stopped recording.
The camera overlooking the grand staircase.
It had lost signal exactly four minutes before Margaret fell.
Four minutes.
When Nathaniel asked the security company, they insisted the interruption had been manual.
Someone had disconnected the recording cable inside the maintenance closet.
Someone inside the house.
That evening, while Rosa cleaned the library, Lily quietly wandered through the hallway carrying her coloring book.
Nathaniel noticed she kept glancing nervously toward Vivien.
He crouched beside her.
"Did something scare you yesterday?"
Lily looked toward her mother.
Rosa gently nodded.
"It's okay, sweetheart."
Lily whispered so softly Nathaniel almost missed it.
"The pretty lady pushed the grandma."
Nathaniel felt every muscle in his body tighten.
"What did you say?"
May you like
Lily's tiny fingers trembled.
"I saw her."
