Chapter 4: The Man Who Looked the Other Way
Daines arrived in four minutes.
He was a compact man in his late fifties, silver-haired, with the careful posture of someone who had spent decades managing other people's problems.
He stepped into the hallway and took in the scene — Rosa standing near the wall, Lily by the side table, Serena seated on the bench near the staircase with her arms folded — and his expression gave away nothing.
"Mr.
Blackwood asked for me?"
Victor came out of the nursery.
He pulled the door almost closed behind him.
"Three weeks ago," Victor said, "Lily came to you with a video."
Daines didn't flinch.
"She came to me with a concern, yes.
I assessed the situation and—"
"You told her to delete it."
A pause.
Very small.
"I advised her that making accusations without proper context could—"
"Did you watch the video?"
Another pause.
Longer this time.
"Yes."
"And you told her to delete it."
Daines straightened slightly.
"Miss Serena had already spoken with me that morning.
She explained that Lily had been behaving erratically.
That she'd been making comments to the other staff.
I had reason to believe the situation was being misrepresented."
"She spoke to you that morning." Victor's voice was flat.
"Before Lily came to you.
Serena had already spoken to you."
"She is your fiancée.
It was reasonable to—"
"She knew." Victor turned to look at Serena.
"You knew Lily had the video before she even came to Daines."
Serena met his eyes.
"I knew she was unstable.
I was protecting this household."
"From what?"
"From a disgruntled employee making false claims."
Victor looked back at Daines.
"You watched a video of my son being grabbed in his crib.
And you told the person who filmed it to delete the evidence and stay quiet."
Daines said nothing.
"I want you out of this house tonight.
Your contract is terminated.
My lawyer will be in contact regarding what comes next."
Daines's composure finally cracked — just slightly, just at the edges.
"Mr.
Blackwood, I have worked for this family for eleven years.
Whatever you think happened, I was acting in what I believed to be the best interest of—"
"Ethan is fourteen months old." Victor's voice didn't rise.
It didn't need to.
"He couldn't tell me what was happening to him.
You could.
You chose not to." He stepped aside from the doorway.
"Goodbye, Daines."
Daines looked once at Serena.
She didn't look back.
He left.
The hallway was quiet for a moment.
Then Serena stood.
"Victor.
I know this looks bad.
But you need to think clearly.
We are three weeks from the wedding.
The invitations have gone out.
The press already knows.
If you do something rash tonight, the story will be everywhere by morning and you will not be able to control it."
Victor looked at her.
"You're talking about the wedding."
"I'm talking about your reputation.
Our life.
Everything we've built."
"Ethan is in that room," Victor said.
"He is fourteen months old.
And you are talking to me about press coverage."
Serena's expression shifted.
Something harder moved underneath the surface.
"I am talking about reality.
Which is something you clearly need a moment to find."
She picked up her bag from the bench.
"I'm going to give you the night to calm down.
When you're thinking straight, you'll call me.
And we will handle this quietly, the way people like us handle things." She looked at Lily.
"And whatever you think those videos prove — my lawyers will have a very different interpretation."
She walked toward the front door.
Victor let her go.
Rosa watched from the hallway.
"Sir — should I—"
"No." He was already moving back toward the nursery.
"Let her go."
Lily stood alone in the hallway, listening to the sound of Serena's heels on the marble, then the front door closing, then silence.
She looked down at her phone.
The unknown number had sent a second message.
May you like
*I know where you live.
Think carefully about what you do next.*
