CHAPTER 3: THE NANNY'S SECRET
The words settled over the mansion like a death sentence.
"Everyone is a suspect."
No one moved.
No one dared.
The Blackwood guards had heard Victor pronounce that sentence only a handful of times over the past fifteen years.
Each time, someone's life had ended before sunrise.
Serena forced a smile.
"Victor... surely you don't mean me."
He didn't answer.
Instead, he carefully adjusted Ethan in his arms.
The little boy's breathing had become frighteningly uneven.
His tiny chest barely rose.
Every second felt precious.
The family physician rushed through the front doors carrying a black emergency case.
Dr. Harrison had served the Blackwood family for nearly twenty years.
The moment he saw Ethan, the color drained from his face.
"My God..."
Victor laid Ethan gently onto a nearby sofa.
"Save him."
There was no panic in his voice.
No pleading.
Just an order.
Dr. Harrison immediately began examining the child.
He checked Ethan's pulse.
His pupils.
His breathing.
Then he carefully lifted the toddler's left arm.
A sharp gasp escaped his lips.
Victor noticed.
"What?"
The doctor hesitated.
"I need X-rays to confirm..."
Victor's stare hardened.
"Now."
Dr. Harrison swallowed.
"I believe his shoulder has been dislocated."
Lily lowered her head.
She had feared exactly that.
"But that's not all."
The doctor gently rolled up Ethan's sleeve.
Purple bruises covered the child's tiny arm.
Some were fresh.
Others...
Were yellow.
Healing.
Older.
The room fell silent.
Victor stared at them.
One.
Two.
Five.
Seven.
Too many to count.
His voice became dangerously quiet.
"How old?"
The doctor looked uncomfortable.
"Some injuries are only hours old."
He pointed to another bruise.
"These..."
"...perhaps a week."
Another.
"These are older."
"Maybe two weeks."
Another.
"Nearly a month."
Lily closed her eyes.
She knew it.
She had seen them before.
But every time she questioned Serena...
There had always been an explanation.
"He fell."
"He hit the crib."
"He bumped into the table."
Excuses.
All of them.
Victor never took his eyes off Ethan.
"A child this age..."
Dr. Harrison continued cautiously.
"...does not usually suffer injuries like these without repeated trauma."
Repeated.
The word echoed through the room.
Repeated.
Not one accident.
Not two.
A pattern.
Victor slowly looked toward Serena.
She immediately shook her head.
"No."
"I've never seen those bruises."
Lily couldn't stay silent.
"Because you covered them."
Serena spun around.
"Shut up!"
The sudden outburst surprised everyone.
She quickly regained her composure.
"I mean..."
She inhaled deeply.
"She's trying to blame me because she's afraid."
Victor noticed something.
Serena was speaking too much.
She always filled silence with explanations.
Lily never did.
Lily only answered questions.
Interesting.
Another guard entered hurriedly.
"Sir."
Victor looked up.
"The ambulance has arrived."
"No."
The guard blinked.
"Sir?"
Victor stood.
"I'll take Ethan myself."
No one argued.
Everyone knew why.
Victor trusted almost no one with his son's safety.
Especially now.
He turned toward Lily.
"You."
She looked up.
"Come."
Serena stepped forward immediately.
"I'll come too."
Victor looked at her.
"No."
The single word landed harder than any shout.
Her smile stiffened.
"But Victor..."
"You stay."
His eyes shifted toward the guards.
"No one enters or leaves this mansion."
"Without my permission."
"Yes, sir."
The front doors opened.
Victor carried Ethan outside.
Lily followed.
As she stepped into the cold evening air, she finally breathed.
Barely.
Behind them...
The massive iron gates closed.
Locking Serena inside.
The convoy raced through downtown Chicago.
Black SUVs cut through traffic like wolves.
Police escorts cleared intersections.
Within twelve minutes they reached Blackwood Memorial Hospital.
The emergency entrance had already been evacuated.
Doctors lined both sides of the corridor.
Victor carried Ethan straight inside.
"No paperwork."
"No delays."
"Save my son."
Within seconds, Ethan disappeared into the trauma room.
The doors slammed shut.
A red light illuminated above them.
SURGERY IN PROGRESS.
Lily stood frozen.
Blood still stained her uniform.
Her knees shook uncontrollably.
Only now...
With Ethan beyond her reach...
Did she realize how badly she herself had been injured.
A nurse approached.
"Miss..."
"We should examine you."
Lily shook her head.
"I'm fine."
"You can barely stand."
"I'm fine."
Victor watched the exchange silently.
After a moment, he spoke.
"Sit."
She obeyed.
Not because she wanted to.
Because her legs suddenly refused to support her.
Minutes later...
Hospital staff cleaned the cuts on her face.
Wrapped her bruised ribs.
Applied ice to her swollen cheek.
Victor remained standing near the operating room doors.
Like a statue.
Like a guardian.
An hour passed.
No one spoke.
Finally...
Victor broke the silence.
"You've worked for me six months."
"Yes."
"You cared for Ethan every day."
"Yes."
"You loved him."
Lily looked surprised.
"...Yes."
Victor nodded once.
Then came the question she feared most.
"Tell me everything."
Every memory flooded back.
The bruises.
The scratches.
The nights Ethan cried uncontrollably after Serena insisted on putting him to bed.
The strange fear in the child's eyes whenever Serena entered the nursery.
Lily slowly began speaking.
At first...
Only small details.
Then larger ones.
Finally...
Everything.
She told him about the bruises she had photographed.
Victor interrupted.
"You photographed them?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"My phone."
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"Show me."
Lily reached into her pocket.
Nothing.
Her face turned white.
"My phone..."
She remembered.
Serena had kicked her.
The phone had flown across the foyer.
She never picked it up.
"It's still in the mansion."
Victor immediately turned toward one of his men.
"Bring it."
The guard nodded and left.
Lily lowered her head.
"I'm sorry."
Victor surprised her.
"For what?"
"I should've told you sooner."
"You trusted the wrong person."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"I kept thinking..."
"...maybe I was imagining things."
Victor remained silent.
Then he asked another question.
"Why didn't Ethan cry when I picked him up..."
"...but he held your hand?"
Lily looked toward the operating room.
"He trusts me."
Victor waited.
She whispered...
"Because..."
"...I'm the only one who stayed with him whenever he was afraid."
Victor's expression changed.
Barely.
Almost impossible to notice.
But something inside him shifted.
He had spent years building an empire.
Expanding territories.
Winning wars.
Yet somehow...
He had failed to notice the war taking place inside his own home.
Just then...
One of the operating room doors opened.
Dr. Harrison stepped out.
His surgical gloves were stained with blood.
Victor immediately stood.
"Well?"
The doctor's face was serious.
"The shoulder has been repaired."
Lily exhaled in relief.
"But..."
The doctor looked directly at Victor.
"We found something unexpected."
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
Dr. Harrison hesitated.
"During the examination..."
"...we discovered several older fractures."
Lily gasped.
Victor said nothing.
The doctor continued quietly.
"At least three ribs."
"They had already started healing."
"And..."
He looked down at the medical report in his hand.
"There is evidence those injuries occurred weeks apart."
Victor slowly clenched his fists.
The doctor took one final breath.
"There is absolutely no medical possibility..."
"...that all of this came from today's incident."
Someone...
Had been hurting Ethan.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Victor's phone vibrated.
One of his security chiefs was calling.
He answered immediately.
"What is it?"
The voice on the other end sounded shaken.
"Boss..."
"We found the nanny's phone."
Victor looked toward Lily.
"And?"
A long silence followed.
Then the guard spoke.
"You need to see what's inside."
Victor frowned.
"What did you find?"
The guard's voice dropped almost to a whisper.
"There are fifty-three videos..."
May you like
"...and every single one shows Miss Serena alone with Ethan."
END OF CHAPTER 3
