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 8 / 20

Chapter 8 - MRS. GABLE’S SECRETMrs. Gable waited outside the study with her coat clutched in both hands.

When Richard stepped into the hallway, still holding sleeping Maya, the elderly nanny immediately began crying.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Sterling. I should have told you sooner.”

Richard’s anger softened when he saw how broken she looked.

“Why didn’t you?”

Mrs. Gable looked down.

“My grandson’s medical bills,” she whispered. “Mrs. Sterling knew. She said if I lost this job, she would make sure no agency hired me again.”

Richard exhaled slowly.

Victoria had chosen her leverage carefully.

Money.

Fear.

Shame.

The same tools powerful people always used when they wanted decent people to stay quiet.

“What else did you see?” Richard asked.

Mrs. Gable’s hands trembled.

“She never struck Miss Maya. Not that I saw. But she would take away her mother’s blanket when she cried. She would say, ‘Good girls don’t need dead women.’”

Richard closed his eyes.

Maya’s favorite blanket had been sewn from one of Eleanor’s silk scarves. Richard had thought it comforted her.

Now he understood why it had disappeared twice.

Mrs. Gable continued, “She would force Miss Maya to sit still for photographs until she stopped crying. If she reached for me, Mrs. Sterling told me not to respond. She said attachment to servants made children common.”

Richard looked toward the closed study door.

Inside, Victoria was speaking with Conrad in sharp whispers.

Mrs. Gable lowered her voice.

“There is one thing she doesn’t know.”

Richard looked back at her.

The nanny glanced around, then reached into the pocket of her cardigan and pulled out a tiny memory card.

Richard stared.

“What is that?”

“I bought a small camera myself,” she said. “For my grandson, originally. I hid it inside the stuffed bear on the bookshelf because I was afraid no one would believe me.”

Richard’s breath caught.

“You recorded the nursery?”

Mrs. Gable nodded through tears.

“Only parts. I know it was wrong. But after the first time Miss Maya screamed from the wardrobe, I couldn’t sleep.”

Richard took the memory card carefully.

For the first time that night, hope and horror came together inside him.

“Did it capture Victoria?”

Mrs. Gable’s voice broke.

“Yes.”

Before Richard could answer, the study door opened.

Victoria stood there, her eyes locked on the tiny card between Richard’s fingers.

“What is that?”