Chapter 3: The Enemy Inside
Chapter 3: The Enemy Inside
The Romano estate became a fortress before midnight.
Every employee was questioned.
Every security recording was reviewed frame by frame.
Emma expected to leave after giving her statement.
Instead, Adrian stopped her.
"I need you to stay."
"I'm a waitress."
"Tonight," Adrian replied, "you're the only person who noticed my son was hurting."
She couldn't argue with that.
Hours later, the family's pediatric specialist arrived.
He examined the baby and confirmed Emma's suspicion.
The patch had been intentionally left on far beyond the safe limit.
Then came another discovery.
The replacement medication found inside the nursery wasn't medicine at all.
The bottles had been switched.
Lab tests later revealed a slow-acting toxin.
Not enough to kill immediately.
Enough to make an infant appear mysteriously ill over several weeks.
Someone wanted the baby's health to decline gradually.
Someone who understood hospitals.
Someone who expected no one to ask questions.
Adrian ordered background checks on everyone with access to the nursery.
Only one person's records didn't match.
The live-in nanny.
She had worked for the family for eight months.
Everything on her résumé looked perfect.
Too perfect.
By sunrise, investigators located the real woman whose identity had been stolen.
She had never worked for the Romano family.
The nanny disappeared before dawn.
But she left one mistake behind.
A hidden phone inside the nursery.
The last outgoing message contained only four words.
"The mother knows everything."
Adrian stared at the screen.
His wife had died during childbirth.
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Or at least...
that's what everyone had believed.
