Chapter 4 - THE MAID WHO REFUSED TO LIE
Clara Hayes sat in the estate's infirmary while an emergency physician wrapped her injured ankle.
She had refused pain medication until Sebastian promised that nobody would send her home alone.
Her younger brother, Daniel, was sixteen and living in a modest apartment in Queens. Clara had worked two jobs to keep him in school after their mother died. Vanessa had discovered his existence during Clara's background check and used him as leverage from the beginning.
Sebastian stood beside the bed.
"I need you to tell the police everything you saw."
Clara stared at the blanket.
"If I do, she'll hurt Daniel."
"I've sent two guards to his apartment. He's being moved to a secure location."
"With respect, sir, your people are the reason I'm afraid."
The words struck harder than he expected.
She wasn't wrong. The Romano name had filled her life with threats, secrecy, and fear. Sebastian had spent years assuming loyalty could be purchased and problems could be solved with orders.
Clara had learned that those same orders could destroy someone who had no power to resist them.
"I won't ask you to trust me because of my name," he said. "I'll ask you to judge me by what I do next."
She finally looked at him.
"Margaret didn't disappear because she wanted to leave. She found something."
"What?"
"I don't know. She came to me in the laundry room with a stack of papers. She said the accounts for your father's medical care didn't match the invoices. She believed someone was stealing money from a trust established for him."
Sebastian frowned.
"Vanessa manages the household accounts."
"She manages more than that. Margaret said the same company billed your father for nurses who never worked here, equipment that never arrived, and treatments he never received."
"And she refused to sign something."
Clara nodded.
"A statement claiming your father was mentally incapable of managing his own affairs. Margaret said it would give Mrs. Sterling authority over his estate."
Sebastian's stomach tightened.
If Antonio were declared mentally incompetent, control of the trust could pass to Vanessa. And if Sebastian's mother were officially dead, the trust's next beneficiary might be Dominic.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"Because Mrs. Sterling told me she'd make sure Daniel was arrested for stealing from a store. She showed me a photograph of him leaving a pharmacy and said her friends in the police department could make anything look criminal."
Sebastian felt a cold rage settle behind his ribs.
"She threatened a child to silence you."
"She threatened the only family I have."
He knelt beside the bed.
"Clara, I need you to understand something. If you testify, you may be frightened. People may try to make you doubt yourself. But you won't be alone."
She studied him.
"Does that include your fiancée?"
The question was quiet.
Sebastian had no answer.
A knock interrupted them. Marcus entered with a folder.
"Boss, the police want to interview Clara. Also, we've located the man in the photographs."
"Where?"
"Security office. He says Nicholas hired him to take pictures."
"Where's Nicholas?"
Marcus hesitated.
"His car was found abandoned on the east road. There's blood on the driver's seat."
Sebastian rose.
"Call the state police. Nobody moves that vehicle until forensic teams arrive."
Marcus lowered his voice.
"There's one more thing. We found Margaret's nursing bag in Vanessa's private dressing room. Inside was a flash drive."
Sebastian opened the folder.
The drive contained a single video file.
It showed Margaret in Antonio's bedroom three nights earlier, speaking to someone just outside the camera's view.
"I won't sign it," Margaret said. "You can threaten me all you want. The original trust documents prove Elena Romano is still the rightful beneficiary."
A woman's voice answered.
"Then you leave me no choice."
Vanessa stepped into the frame.
But she wasn't alone.
The person behind her placed a hand on her shoulder.
Sebastian recognized the signet ring before the camera revealed the man's face.
Dominic Romano.
Then the video ended with a crash and a scream.
Clara covered her mouth.
"She's alive," she whispered.
Sebastian turned to Marcus.
"Find Margaret."
Marcus nodded and hurried out.
Sebastian watched the blank screen.
His uncle had lied about his mother, his fiancée had attacked the maid, and someone had staged evidence to frame an innocent woman.
But the most disturbing part was the date displayed beneath the video.
It had been recorded the previous night.
Margaret had been alive less than twenty-four hours ago.
And the last location recorded on the camera's metadata was not the cellar.
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It was the private clinic where Antonio had received rehabilitation after his stroke.
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