Chapter 6 - The Secret Under the FloorHarlan brought me back to the mansion.
Not because I wanted to return.
Because there was nowhere safer.
That night, Belle gave me a small wooden box.
“Mommy's.”
Inside was a key.
And a note.
For Harlan. When Belle is old enough.
Harlan read it.
His hands began shaking.
The key opened a hidden compartment beneath the greenhouse floor.
Inside was a flash drive.
Photographs.
Bank records.
Shipping manifests.
And a recording.
Victor's voice.
“Once Harlan is gone, the girl becomes irrelevant.”
My blood ran cold.
Harlan closed his eyes.
His brother's death.
Belle's illness.
The missing medication.
The stolen files.
It had all been connected.
Victor had been stealing from Harlan for years.
Marcus discovered it.
Victor killed Marcus.
Then he tried to silence Belle.
And when I found her—
I became a problem.
Harlan looked at me.
“I should have listened to my brother.”
“You didn't know.”
“I should have.”
Then he said something I never expected.
“I'm sorry.”
I stared at him.
“For what?”
“For bringing danger into your life.”
“You didn't.”
“I did.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
I touched his hand.
“Someone else did.”
He looked at our hands.
Neither of us moved.
Then Belle appeared in the doorway.
“Are you two holding hands?”
We immediately separated.
Belle grinned.
“I knew it.”
Harlan sighed.
I laughed.
For one brief moment, the mansion felt like a family home.
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Then every light went out.
And someone locked the doors from the outside.
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