Richard thought his two-year-old daughter was simply afraid of strangers—until she flinched at Victoria’s shadow and whispered something that made him check the nursery cameras. / Chapter 3 / 20

Chapter 3 - THE CAMERA THAT LIEDRichard crossed the nursery in five long strides and looked up at the small white camera mounted near the ceiling.

The light was on.

Green.

Active.

Recording.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and opened the estate security app. The nursery feed loaded immediately.

There was the crib.

The rocking chair.

The painted clouds.

Everything looked normal.

Except Richard was standing in the middle of the nursery holding Maya.

And he was not visible on the screen.

The feed was fake.

A recorded loop.

His hand tightened around the phone until his knuckles went pale.

Victoria stepped forward quickly. “Richard, security systems glitch all the time.”

He looked at her.

“You know a lot about glitches?”

Her face hardened. “Don’t speak to me like I’m some criminal.”

Maya began to whimper again.

Richard kissed her forehead, calming himself for her sake.

Then he called his head of security.

“Mr. Sterling,” came the voice of Aaron Pike.

“Come to the east nursery. Now.”

There was a pause.

“Sir, I’m posted at the ballroom entrance. We’re handling guest arrivals.”

“Now.”

Richard ended the call.

Victoria folded her arms. Her diamond necklace glittered under the nursery light.

“This is humiliating,” she said quietly. “You’re turning a child’s tantrum into a scandal during our foundation gala.”

Richard gave a cold laugh.

“Our foundation gala?”

Victoria blinked.

He stepped closer, still holding Maya.

“Eleanor built that foundation.”

The words struck Victoria harder than a shout.

Her mouth opened, but no sound came.

A minute later, Aaron Pike arrived with two junior security officers behind him. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and usually unreadable. But when his eyes landed on the wardrobe, then on Richard’s phone, something shifted.

Guilt.

Richard saw it immediately.

“You knew,” Richard said.

Pike looked down. “Sir—”

“You knew someone had tampered with the camera.”

Victoria cut in smoothly. “Aaron told me there was a minor software issue. I handled it because Richard was overwhelmed with gala preparations.”

Richard turned to her slowly.

“You handled my daughter’s security?”

“I handled a household problem.”

Pike cleared his throat. “Mr. Sterling, Mrs. Sterling asked me to redirect the nursery camera feed temporarily. She said it was for privacy while dress fittings were happening.”

Richard’s voice dropped. “For three weeks?”

Pike looked ashamed.

“Yes, sir.”

Maya suddenly lifted her head and pointed at Pike.

“Bad man.”

The room went dead silent.

Pike flinched.

Richard stared at him.

“What did you do?”

Pike’s face collapsed.

“I didn’t touch her. I swear to God, I didn’t. But I heard her crying once. From inside the wardrobe. Mrs. Sterling told me to leave it alone.”

Richard’s vision blurred at the edges.