CHAPTER 5 — THE HIDDEN ROOM
Samuel’s daughter was a twenty-three-year-old housekeeper named Lily Price.
She had worked at the Cross mansion for nearly a year under her mother’s last name.
Damian had kept her close to ensure Samuel’s silence.
Isabella immediately called Detective Rowan.
Within an hour, the court granted a limited emergency search order based on unlawful confinement and evidence destruction.
Isabella returned to the mansion just after noon.
The gates that had once opened automatically for her remained closed.
Marcus handed the order to the private security team.
They stepped aside.
Inside the mansion, the remains of Damian’s birthday dinner were still scattered across the foyer.
Broken glass.
Half-empty champagne flutes.
Flowers beginning to wilt beneath the chandeliers.
The place no longer looked magnificent.
It looked abandoned.
They found Lily locked inside a small upstairs room.
She was frightened but unharmed.
Samuel broke down when she was brought outside.
For the first time since the night began, Isabella felt they had saved something before it was too late.
Then she entered the library.
Behind a wall of antique books, Marcus discovered a concealed steel door.
Vanessa’s birthday opened the keypad.
The hidden office smelled of leather, dust, and expensive cologne.
Damian’s private records filled the cabinets.
There were photographs of Isabella entering Montrose Global.
Reports documenting her daily schedule.
Copies of private emails.
Records of every financial rescue she had arranged for Cross Meridian.
Damian had been watching her long before their first meeting.
Claire opened a file marked MONTROSE SUCCESSION.
Inside was a photograph of Damian and Vanessa taken six months before Isabella’s wedding.
They were standing outside a restaurant, kissing.
On the back, someone had written:
She trusts him. Proceed to marriage.
Isabella closed her eyes for one second.
Not from weakness.
From grief.
Every anniversary.
Every promise.
Every quiet night beside him.
All of it had been part of a strategy.
Marcus connected Damian’s computer to a forensic system.
Most files were encrypted.
One video opened without a password.
Damian appeared on-screen beside Adrian Locke.
The recording was dated two weeks before the wedding.
Adrian handed Damian a folder.
“You will have four years,” Adrian said. “Make her dependent on you. Keep her away from her father. When the company is vulnerable, we activate the agreement.”
Damian smiled.
“And after I control her shares?”
“We divide Montrose Global.”
The video ended.
Claire stared at the dark screen.
Adrian had not simply betrayed Alexander.
He had designed the entire marriage.
Marcus searched the remaining files.
One folder had been accessed that morning.
Its title was:
FINAL CONTINGENCY — ISABELLA
The folder was empty.
But the activity log showed who had downloaded it.
May you like
Vanessa Hale.
And according to the mansion’s garage camera, she had left forty minutes earlier carrying a silver case.
