Chapter 2 - THE RED ROOM
I didn’t ask Victoria again.
I knew better.
People who were frightened usually filled silence with mistakes.
So I let the room go quiet.
Victoria’s eyes moved toward the hallway.
Once.
Twice.
Then a third time.
Evelyn noticed.
“So.”
She closed one folder.
“Which room is red?”
Victoria snapped.
“There is no red room.”
Leo whimpered.
I remained kneeling near the coffee table.
“Sweetheart.”
He didn’t answer.
“You don’t have to tell me anything.”
His fingers relaxed slightly.
I spoke softly.
“You’re not going anywhere alone.”
He shifted beneath the table.
“No red room?”
“No.”
“You promise?”
My throat tightened.
“I promise.”
Leo finally looked at me.
It was the first time his eyes stayed on mine for longer than a second.
They were the same brown eyes I remembered.
But something older lived inside them now.
Something no four-year-old should have.
I held out my hand.
Not toward him.
Just against the floor between us.
“You can come out when you want.”
His gaze dropped to my fingers.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then he moved.
One knee.
One hand.
Then another.
Slowly, Leo crawled toward me.
Victoria sighed behind us.
“You see?”
“He always crawls.”
I ignored her.
Leo stopped inches from my hand.
His fingers trembled.
Then his smallest finger touched mine.
That tiny touch almost made me lose control.
I didn’t grab him.
I didn’t move.
He touched me again.
Then suddenly he lunged forward and wrapped both arms around my neck.
The sound that escaped me wasn’t a word.
I held him carefully.
So carefully.
His body felt impossibly light.
I could feel every ridge of his spine through his shirt.
My eyes burned.
Leo buried his face against my shoulder.
“Mommy?”
That one word destroyed every wall I had built since walking through the door.
“Yes.”
I kissed his hair.
“I’m here.”
His arms tightened.
“You came back?”
“Yes.”
“For me?”
I shut my eyes.
“For you.”
He began crying.
Not the terrified screaming from before.
This was quieter.
Broken.
Almost relieved.
I let him cry.
Behind me, Evelyn said something to her assistant.
I barely heard it.
I picked Leo up.
He immediately hooked his legs around my waist.
He was four.
But he clung to me like a frightened baby.
Dominic stepped forward.
“Let me see him.”
Leo’s entire body locked.
His nails dug into my shoulder.
“No.”
Dominic stopped.
“Leo.”
My son buried his face against my neck.
“No.”
Dominic’s expression shifted from hurt to embarrassment.
“Buddy, it’s Dad.”
Leo began shaking again.
I moved back.
Dominic frowned.
“He’s being dramatic.”
I stared at him.
“You just watched him panic because you raised your voice.”
“He does this all the time.”
“That doesn’t make it normal.”
“It’s attention seeking.”
“From whom?”
Dominic hesitated.
I continued.
“You?”
He looked away.
“Victoria?”
Silence.
“Brooke?”
Brooke crossed her arms.
“I barely interact with him.”
From my shoulder, Leo whispered one word.
“Liar.”
Brooke’s face changed.
Dominic stared.
Leo immediately stiffened.
“I’m sorry.”
I rubbed his back.
“You don’t apologize for telling the truth.”
Brooke took a step toward us.
“I have never touched that child.”
Leo started crying again.
I turned away from her.
Evelyn stepped between us.
“Ms. Hayes.”
Her voice became colder.
“You should stop approaching the child.”
Brooke laughed nervously.
“You people are insane.”
Evelyn looked toward her assistant.
“David, call Dr. Mason.”
My head lifted.
Evelyn looked at me.
“She’s the pediatric trauma specialist I mentioned last year when one of our employees needed emergency help for his daughter.”
I nodded.
“Call her.”
Dominic moved toward the door.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
He pointed at Leo.
“No doctors.”
I stared.
“What did you just say?”
“He’s fine.”
I couldn’t believe it.
“Look at him.”
“He’s skinny.”
“He has bruises.”
“He falls.”
“He can barely stand.”
“He’s lazy.”
The words came out so casually that even Brooke looked uncomfortable.
I stepped toward Dominic.
Leo clung tighter.
“Lazy?”
Dominic rubbed his forehead.
“Clara, I’m trying to explain.”
“Explain.”
“He refuses to walk sometimes.”
“Why?”
“He wants to be carried.”
“Then why didn’t you carry him?”
Dominic looked irritated.
“Because he needs to learn.”
Leo’s breathing changed again.
I felt it against my neck.
Fast.
Shallow.
Terrified.
Evelyn stepped closer.
“We’re leaving.”
Dominic blocked the doorway.
“No.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Move.”
“That is my son.”
“Then you should be eager to have a physician document that he’s fine.”
Dominic stared at her.
“That’s not what this is.”
“What is it?”
“You’re building a case.”
Evelyn didn’t answer.
She didn’t need to.
Dominic looked at me.
“You planned this.”
I almost laughed.
“I came home expecting dinner with my family.”
“You called a lawyer.”
“After I found our son crawling around the floor.”
“You’re trying to steal him from me.”
My voice dropped.
“Steal?”
I took one step closer.
“You had two years with him.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Two years.”
My eyes burned.
“And this is what I came home to.”
He lowered his voice.
“You left.”
There it was.
The weapon he had been waiting to use.
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
“I stayed.”
“You stayed in the same city.”
“I raised him.”
“No.”
I looked at Leo’s bruised knees.
“You were nearby while this happened.”
Dominic flinched.
Then he made his second mistake.
He looked at his mother.
Not at me.
Not at Leo.
At Victoria.
That single glance told me more than any confession.
Victoria had controlled the house.
Dominic had known enough not to ask questions.
Maybe because asking questions would have interrupted his new life.
Maybe because Leo had become inconvenient.
Maybe because Brooke wanted her own child centered in everything.
Whatever the reason, my husband had chosen comfort over his son.
Evelyn’s assistant came back into the room.
“Dr. Mason can see him immediately.”
“Good.”
I adjusted Leo against my shoulder.
Dominic remained in the doorway.
“I said no.”
Evelyn pulled out her phone.
“Then we can call the police and explain why a parent is obstructing medical evaluation of a visibly distressed four-year-old.”
Dominic stepped aside.
Victoria grabbed my arm as I walked past.
Leo screamed.
I spun so fast Victoria stumbled backward.
“Never touch me while I’m holding him.”
Her eyes widened.
“How dare you speak to me that way?”
I looked directly into her face.
“You haven’t heard the way I’m going to speak to you yet.”
Her hand dropped.
I carried Leo toward the foyer.
Then he whispered something.
“Mommy.”
“Yes?”
“My bear.”
I stopped.
“Your bear?”
He pointed toward the hallway.
I looked at Dominic.
“Where is his room?”
Dominic opened his mouth.
Leo answered first.
“Not my room.”
My stomach tightened.
“Where do you sleep?”
He pointed again.
“Down there.”
Victoria suddenly stepped forward.
“He means the playroom.”
Leo buried his face.
“No.”
I followed the direction of his finger.
The hallway led toward the old service wing.
A part of the house we barely used.
I remembered three guest rooms there.
A laundry room.
Storage.
And one narrow door at the far end.
I started walking.
Victoria blocked me.
“You’re taking him to the doctor.”
“I’m getting his bear.”
“I’ll get it.”
“No.”
She grabbed my shoulder.
Evelyn immediately stepped between us.
“Do not touch my client again.”
Victoria’s voice cracked.
“There is nothing down there.”
I looked past her.
“Then you won’t mind if I look.”
Dominic came closer.
“Clara.”
I ignored him.
The hallway felt colder.
Leo’s face disappeared against my neck again.
With every step, his breathing grew faster.
I reached the narrow door.
It had once been white.
Now it was painted dark burgundy.
Red.
My body went numb.
A lock had been installed on the outside.
Not the inside.
The outside.
I stared at it.
Behind me, nobody spoke.
I reached for the handle.
Victoria finally shouted.
“Don’t open that door!”
Leo screamed.
I turned.
His entire body had started shaking.
“No, Mommy!”
He clutched my collar.
“No red room!”
I held him tighter.
“It’s okay.”
He cried against me.
“Please.”
“I’m not putting you inside.”
I handed him to Evelyn.
Leo panicked for half a second until I stayed close enough for him to see me.
Then I turned back.
The key was still in the lock.
I stared at Victoria.
She was crying now.
Not from sadness.
Fear.
I turned the key.
The lock clicked.
Then I opened the door.
There was no bed.
No toy chest.
No lamp.
Nothing except a thin blanket on the floor.
A plastic cup.
A child-sized plate.
And scratched into the lower part of the wall were dozens of crooked little lines.
Groups of five.
Like someone had been counting days.
My hands went cold.
Then Evelyn’s assistant whispered from behind me.
“Clara.”
I looked down.
Near the blanket was Leo’s blue teddy bear.
One eye had been torn off.
Around its neck was a dog collar.
May you like
And clipped to that collar was a handwritten card.
BE GOOD OR MOMMY WON’T COME BACK.
