CHAPTER 4 — THE FIRST LIE
The basement fell into absolute silence.
No one spoke.
No one even seemed willing to breathe.
Victoria's words still echoed through the concrete room.
"I've been trying to protect those children from him for years."
Nathan stared at her in disbelief.
"You expect me to believe that?"
Victoria didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she slowly looked toward Dr. Andrew Whitmore.
For the first time that night...
the doctor's calm expression cracked.
Only slightly.
But Nathan saw it.
So did Officer Collins.
"You've been very talkative tonight, Doctor," Collins said. "Would you like to explain these medical files?"
Whitmore calmly adjusted his tie.
"I don't answer questions without legal counsel."
"Five minutes ago you had plenty to say."
"I've reconsidered."
Officer Collins nodded.
"Then you can reconsider downtown."
She motioned to two officers.
"Detain him."
As they stepped forward, Whitmore didn't resist.
He simply looked at Victoria.
"You finally lost your nerve."
Victoria laughed bitterly.
"No."
"I finally ran out of children to sacrifice."
Nathan felt another chill run through him.
"What does that mean?"
Victoria looked at him.
"You still think this started with discipline."
"It didn't."
"It started in the hospital."
The paramedics rushed Daniel upstairs toward the ambulance.
Before the doors closed, Daniel weakly reached for Nathan.
"Dad..."
Nathan immediately climbed inside.
"I'm here."
Daniel struggled to stay awake.
"The blue room..."
Nathan frowned.
"What blue room?"
Daniel swallowed painfully.
"Don't let Emma go... to the blue room..."
His eyes rolled back.
The heart monitor began beeping faster.
The paramedic gently pushed Nathan aside.
"We need room."
The ambulance doors slammed shut.
Sirens screamed into the night.
Nathan watched until the vehicle disappeared beyond the estate gates.
Something about Daniel's words refused to leave his mind.
The blue room.
Inside the mansion...
Crime scene technicians continued searching every floor.
A young officer hurried downstairs carrying a tablet.
"Detective Collins!"
"What is it?"
"We found another surveillance system."
Nathan looked up.
"I thought the cameras were destroyed."
"The main system was."
"This one wasn't."
The officer held up the tablet.
"It records only one room."
"What room?"
The officer hesitated.
"The nursery."
Nathan frowned.
"The nursery hasn't been used in years."
Officer Collins turned toward Thomas.
"The old nursery?"
The butler slowly nodded.
"It was kept locked."
"Who had the key?"
Thomas looked toward Victoria.
"Mrs. Harrington."
They walked upstairs together.
The nursery door stood at the end of the west hallway.
White paint.
Gold lettering.
BABY ROOM
Nathan hadn't entered it since Sophie turned two.
Victoria quietly removed a silver key from her pocket.
"I'll unlock it."
Nathan looked at her.
"You still had the key."
She said nothing.
The lock clicked.
The door slowly opened.
Dust floated through the moonlight.
Nothing looked unusual.
A rocking chair.
A crib.
Shelves full of stuffed animals.
Everything perfectly arranged.
Officer Collins scanned the room.
"This is what was under surveillance?"
The young officer nodded.
"The hidden camera points only here."
Nathan stepped inside.
Something felt wrong.
Not because of what he saw.
Because of what he smelled.
A sharp chemical odor lingered beneath the scent of baby powder.
He walked toward the crib.
The mattress looked untouched.
But when he pressed it—
it sank much farther than it should have.
Nathan lifted it.
Beneath it...
was a false wooden panel.
Officer Collins immediately called for gloves.
The panel was removed.
Underneath lay dozens of sealed envelopes.
Each one labeled with a date.
Nathan picked up the first.
It was addressed to him.
In Victoria's handwriting.
He opened it.
Inside was only one sentence.
Nathan, if you're reading this, I failed.
His hands began to shake.
He opened another.
They are watching every phone call.
Another.
Don't trust Andrew Whitmore.
Another.
Someone forged your signature.
Nathan stared at Victoria.
"What is this?"
Tears finally appeared in her eyes.
"I wrote them."
"Why hide them?"
"Because every time I tried to tell you..."
She looked toward Whitmore.
"...someone stopped me."
Officer Collins opened another envelope.
Inside was a flash drive.
Another.
Another.
Nearly twenty in total.
The technician immediately connected one to a forensic laptop.
A video appeared.
Date:
Seven months earlier.
The nursery.
Victoria sat alone, crying.
The door opened.
Dr. Whitmore entered.
His voice filled the room.
"You missed today's injection."
Victoria answered quietly.
"I won't do it anymore."
Whitmore smiled.
"You don't have a choice."
The recording ended abruptly.
Everyone looked toward the doctor.
Whitmore remained expressionless.
"A video without context proves nothing."
Officer Collins inserted another flash drive.
Another recording.
Different day.
Daniel crying.
Whitmore kneeling beside him with a syringe.
Nathan took a step forward.
"What is he injecting?"
The recording had no answer.
Only Daniel's terrified voice.
"I'll be good... please don't..."
The screen went black.
Nathan's fists clenched so tightly that blood appeared around his fingernails.
"That's enough."
Whitmore's calm voice echoed through the nursery.
Officer Collins looked up.
"You don't get to decide that."
Whitmore slowly smiled.
"You think these recordings expose me."
He looked directly at Nathan.
"They expose your wife."
Nathan frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Whitmore nodded toward the screen.
"Who invited me into this house every week?"
Silence.
"Who held the children while I examined them?"
Nathan looked at Victoria.
Whitmore continued.
"Who signed every visitor log?"
Victoria closed her eyes.
Whitmore spread his hands.
"She did."
Nathan whispered,
"Tell me he's lying."
Victoria didn't answer.
Instead...
she whispered something else.
"I thought I could stop him later."
Nathan's heart sank.
"You let him keep coming."
"I had no choice."
"You always have a choice."
Victoria looked at him with exhausted eyes.
"You've never met the man who owned Andrew Whitmore."
The room fell silent again.
Nathan frowned.
"Owned?"
Whitmore chuckled.
"You've always been intelligent, Nathan."
"But tonight..."
"...you're asking the wrong questions."
He leaned slightly forward.
"You keep asking who."
"You should be asking why."
Before anyone could respond—
a detective burst into the nursery.
"Detective Collins!"
"What happened?"
"We identified the forged signature."
Nathan looked up instantly.
"Already?"
"The ink matches documents signed in your London office."
Nathan frowned.
"That's impossible."
"You were overseas."
"Exactly."
The detective swallowed.
"Which means whoever forged your signature..."
"...had access to your corporate records."
Nathan's expression darkened.
Only five people had that level of access.
His chief financial officer.
His legal counsel.
His executive assistant.
His head of security.
And...
Victoria.
Nathan slowly turned toward his wife.
She shook her head before he could speak.
"It wasn't me."
Nathan didn't know what to believe anymore.
The woman he had caught standing over his terrified children had hidden letters warning him.
The trusted family doctor appeared in multiple disturbing recordings.
Someone inside his own company had forged his signature.
And every answer only created two more questions.
Just then, Nathan's phone rang.
The caller ID made his blood run cold.
ST. MARY'S CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
He answered immediately.
"This is Nathan Harrington."
A frightened nurse spoke through the speaker.
"Mr. Harrington..."
"You need to get here now."
Nathan's heart skipped a beat.
"My son—is Daniel okay?"
There was a long pause.
Then the nurse whispered,
"It's not Daniel."
Nathan froze.
"What do you mean?"
"We've found a child in our long-term records..."
"...registered under the Harrington family name."
Nathan's voice became barely audible.
"That's impossible."
The nurse took a shaky breath.
"Sir..."
"...according to the file, the child officially died eight years ago."
Another pause.
"But someone has been paying for that patient's care every single month..."
"...through one of your private family trust accounts."
Nathan slowly lowered the phone.
His entire world tilted.
He only had three children.
At least...
May you like
that was what he had believed.
Until now.
