Chapter 3 - The Room Nobody Entered“Ellie!”
Maria’s scream came from downstairs.
Ethan ran.
Emergency lights flickered on.
The mansion's security system had gone into backup mode.
Maria stood in the kitchen holding Ellie.
The little girl was crying.
“What happened?”
Maria pointed toward the pantry.
“The door opened.”
Ethan stared at it.
“Why is that a problem?”
“No one uses that room.”
“Why?”
Maria shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Ethan walked toward it.
The door was open three inches.
He pushed it wider.
Inside was a narrow storage room.
Shelves.
Boxes.
Old cleaning supplies.
Nothing unusual.
Until he saw the photograph.
It lay on the floor.
A photograph of Grace.
Ethan crouched.
His wife was standing beside a man.
The man was smiling.
Ethan recognized him immediately.
Daniel Alvarez.
Maria’s dead husband.
Ethan stared at the photograph.
“Where did you get this?”
Maria looked confused.
“I’ve never seen it.”
Ethan flipped it over.
A handwritten note was attached to the back.
Blue cup. Subject three.
His heart slammed against his ribs.
“Maria.”
She stepped closer.
“My husband…”
“Did Daniel work for me?”
“No.”
“But he came here.”
Maria's face went pale.
“He cleaned the pool once.”
Ethan looked at the picture again.
Daniel wasn't wearing a pool worker’s uniform.
He wore a suit.
And he was standing beside Grace.
Someone else was in the photograph.
The edge of a woman’s shoulder.
Ethan turned the image.
The woman had been cut out.
“Who is missing from this?”
Maria shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then a voice came from behind them.
“You shouldn’t be looking in there.”
Ethan turned.
Claire stood in the doorway.
Her face was calm.
Too calm.
“Why?”
“That room is private.”
“It’s inside my house.”
Claire's gaze dropped to the photograph.
For one brief moment, fear flashed across her face.
Then she stepped forward.
“Give it to me.”
Ethan didn’t move.
“Who is Daniel Alvarez?”
“A former employee.”
“You knew him?”
“Barely.”
“That's interesting.”
“What is?”
Ethan lifted the photograph.
“Because your fiancé’s dead wife is standing beside him.”
Claire went still.
“You're overreacting.”
“Am I?”
She reached for the photograph.
Ethan pulled it away.
Then his phone rang.
Tom.
Ethan answered.
“Sir, I sent the files.”
Ethan put him on speaker.
Tom's voice filled the kitchen.
“There was another person accessing Grace’s account.”
“Who?”
Tom paused.
“Your late wife herself.”
Ethan's brows furrowed.
“What?”
“Her account registered a login after she was already dead.”
Claire stared at the phone.
Ethan noticed.
“Continue.”
Tom lowered his voice.
“The login came from inside this house.”
Silence.
Ethan looked around the kitchen.
“How long after Grace died?”
“Forty-seven minutes.”
Maria covered her mouth.
Claire whispered, “That’s impossible.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Why?”
She didn't answer.
He noticed something in her hand.
A small key.
He had seen it before.
Grace used to keep that key around her neck.
A key to the old greenhouse.
“Claire.”
She looked down.
“What?”
“Where did you get that?”
Claire closed her fingers around it.
“This?”
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“Grace gave it to me.”
Ethan’s heart stopped.
“Grace never gave you that key.”
Claire’s smile vanished.
Then Ellie tugged Maria’s sleeve.
The little girl pointed toward Claire.
“Mama…”
“What?”
Ellie’s voice trembled.
“She has Daddy’s smell.”
Everyone froze.
Maria stared at her daughter.
“What did you say?”
Ellie pointed at Claire.
“She was there when Daddy got sleepy.”
Claire’s face went white.
The key dropped from her hand.
It hit the marble floor.
And Ethan knew.
May you like
Whatever had happened to Daniel…
Claire had been there.
