Chapter 3 – The Camera That Never Lied
Long after the engagement party ended, Mercer House fell silent.
The staff cleaned crystal glasses.
Fresh flowers were carried away.
The last limousine disappeared beyond the gates.
Logan couldn't sleep.
Noah had finally fallen asleep in his room, still clutching the sleeve of Logan's tuxedo until exhaustion won.
That had never happened before.
Logan stood alone in his office.
One memory refused to leave him.
The fear in Noah's eyes.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
As though he'd seen something before.
Something he expected to happen again.
His gaze drifted toward the wall of security monitors.
Mercer House recorded nearly every hallway.
Every entrance.
Every nursery.
He had installed the system years ago after Noah was born.
He almost never watched it.
Tonight...
He did.
Hour after hour.
Nothing.
Then...
Three nights earlier.
The nursery.
Vanessa entered quietly while Logan was attending a charity dinner.
Noah sat on the floor building wooden blocks.
Vanessa smiled.
She closed the door.
The smile disappeared.
She bent down until her face was inches from Noah's.
Although there was no audio, Logan read her lips.
"If you cry..."
"...Daddy won't love you anymore."
Noah froze.
Vanessa gently removed the stuffed rabbit from his arms.
She placed it on the highest shelf.
The little boy reached for it.
She shook her head.
Slowly.
Calmly.
Methodically.
Then she walked away.
No yelling.
No hitting.
Nothing anyone could report.
Just fear.
Carefully planted.
Repeated.
Invisible.
Logan replayed the footage five times.
His hands shook harder each time.
Every specialist had said Noah didn't feel safe.
Logan had searched hospitals across the world.
May you like
The danger...
Had been living inside his own home.
