Chapter 2 - Darkness in the Mansion
A woman screamed.
Someone dropped a glass.
The sound shattered against the marble floor.
Daniel immediately reached for his phone.
“Everyone stay where you are.”
Emergency lights flickered on several seconds later.
The foyer returned in dim red illumination.
Emily instinctively stepped backward.
Margaret grabbed the edge of a table.
Vanessa was no longer standing beside the staircase.
Daniel saw the empty space.
“Where is she?”
Guests looked around.
Nobody answered.
“Vanessa!”
Daniel rushed toward the hallway.
Emily followed.
They reached the front entrance.
The massive doors were open.
Cold night air poured into the mansion.
A black SUV was disappearing through the estate gates.
Daniel stared after it.
“She planned this.”
Grant Lewis, the head of estate security, appeared from the security corridor.
He was a broad-shouldered former detective in his early fifties.
“The outage came from the internal electrical panel.”
Daniel turned.
“Someone shut it down?”
Grant nodded.
“Manually.”
Emily looked toward the security room.
“The cameras?”
“Backup power should have kept them recording.”
Grant paused.
“But someone disconnected the backup twenty minutes ago.”
Daniel’s face darkened.
“So she had help.”
Grant did not answer.
He did not need to.
Daniel pulled out his phone.
“Lock the gates.”
“She already passed the main gate.”
“Then call the police.”
Several guests exchanged uncomfortable glances.
Daniel looked toward them.
“This evening is over.”
Nobody argued.
Within minutes, luxury cars began leaving the estate.
People who had arrived expecting champagne and gossip now departed knowing they had witnessed something far more serious.
Emily remained near the staircase.
Her cheek had begun to swell.
Daniel noticed.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.”
Emily looked away.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“I should have stopped her before she touched you.”
“You didn’t know what she was going to do.”
“I knew what kind of person she was becoming.”
Emily looked at him.
That surprised her.
Daniel stared toward the open doors.
“There were signs.”
Margaret approached them.
“What signs?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Vanessa has been asking questions about the Hawthorne Trust.”
Margaret frowned.
“Why?”
“She said she wanted to understand the family finances before the wedding.”
Emily’s eyes widened slightly.
The wedding.
Vanessa was not merely Daniel’s girlfriend.
In eighteen days, she was supposed to become his wife.
Margaret lowered her voice.
“Daniel, what exactly is inside that blue folder?”
Daniel looked toward Grant.
“Come with me.”
They went upstairs.
Emily stayed behind.
Daniel stopped halfway up.
“You too.”
Emily blinked.
“Me?”
“You saw her leaving the study.”
He nodded toward the stairs.
“You may notice something we don’t.”
Emily followed.
The private study stood at the far end of the west corridor.
Daniel entered his security code.
The door unlocked.
At first, everything looked normal.
Mahogany desk.
Leather chairs.
Bookshelves.
A large painting above the fireplace.
Then Daniel opened the lower drawer of his desk.
His expression changed.
“The folder is gone.”
Margaret whispered.
“My God.”
Daniel checked another drawer.
Then another.
Grant inspected the electronic safe behind the painting.
“No forced entry.”
Daniel stared at the safe.
“Open it.”
Grant entered the emergency administrator code.
The door clicked.
Inside were passports, documents, several watches, and sealed envelopes.
Daniel reached toward the back.
His hand stopped.
“There should be three flash drives here.”
Grant looked inside.
There were only two.
Daniel slowly removed them.
Emily watched his face.
“What was on the missing one?”
Daniel turned toward her.
“Records from my company.”
“What kind?”
Daniel did not answer immediately.
May you like
Then he said the words that changed everything.
“Evidence of financial fraud.”
