Chapter 2: The Name on the Screen

Part 2 ⬇️

Marcus didn't move for a long moment.

He just stared at the screen.

At Vanessa's hand.

At my phone.

Then he said, very quietly, "She's been in this room before."

I didn't understand.

"Sir?"

"The security room." He turned to face me.

"She's been in here.

Without my knowledge.

Three times in the past six weeks."

My arms tightened around Lily.

"I thought it was a system glitch," he said.

"The timestamps didn't match the house log.

I couldn't explain it."

He pulled open the desk drawer and placed a small evidence bag on the surface between us.

Inside it was a USB drive.

"This was found behind the server panel yesterday morning.

It doesn't belong to this system."

I stared at it.

"What does it contain?"

Marcus looked at me with an expression I hadn't seen on him before.

Not anger.

Something closer to exhaustion.

And something else underneath that.

Fear.

"Donor records," he said.

"From my mother's foundation.

Every private contribution made in the last four years.

Names.

Amounts.

Bank details."

The room felt smaller.

Lily pressed her face against my neck.

Then Marcus's phone lit up on the desk.

The name on the screen stopped my breath.

*Vanessa.*

---

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Click the link below to read the full story — the truth is darker than anyone in that house expected.