Chapter 1 - THE MAN IN THE SHADOWS
Serena’s heel never came down.
A third footstep sounded from the dark hallway.
Then a fourth.
Slow.
Heavy.
Unhurried.
The kind of footsteps that did not belong to a man rushing toward danger.
They belonged to a man who already knew the danger was trapped in the room with him.
Serena’s face went white.
Lily stopped crawling.
Even Ethan seemed to sense something had changed.
His weak whimper broke through the silence.
Then Victor Blackwood stepped into the light.
He was still wearing the charcoal suit he had left the mansion in that morning.
His black tie had been loosened at the throat.
Rain darkened the shoulders of his overcoat.
There was no visible rage on his face.
That frightened Serena more than rage ever could.
Victor did not look at her first.
He looked at his son.
For one terrible second, nobody moved.
Victor’s eyes dropped to Ethan’s arm.
Then to the tears covering the baby’s face.
Then to Lily lying on the marble floor with one hand pressed against her stomach.
Finally, his gaze moved to Serena’s raised heel.
“Move away from my son.”
Victor’s voice was quiet.
Serena immediately lowered her foot.
“Victor, thank God.”
She rushed toward him.
“You came at the perfect time.”
Victor did not open his arms.
Serena stopped inches from him.
Her breath caught.
Victor looked past her.
“Lily.”
Lily tried to answer.
Nothing came out.
Her lungs still burned.
Victor stepped around Serena and crouched beside Ethan.
His hands, hands that had signed orders worth millions and made grown men tremble across Chicago, shook when he reached for the little boy.
“Ethan.”
The baby gave a weak cry.
Victor’s jaw tightened.
He did not lift him immediately.
He knew enough not to move an injured arm.
Instead, he removed his coat and gently placed it around the child.
Then he pulled out his phone.
“Dr. Mercer.”
Serena swallowed.
Victor’s private physician answered almost immediately.
“My son is injured.”
Victor’s tone remained frighteningly controlled.
“Send the pediatric trauma team to the house.”
He paused.
“Now.”
He ended the call.
Serena stepped closer.
“Victor, you need to listen to me.”
He looked up.
She pointed at Lily.
“She did this.”
Lily stared at her.
For a moment, even the pain disappeared beneath pure disbelief.
Serena’s voice began trembling beautifully.
Perfectly.
Like an actress hitting her mark.
“I walked in and found her dragging Ethan across the floor.”
“No.”
Lily forced the word through her aching throat.
Serena spun toward her.
“You shut your mouth.”
Victor slowly stood.
Serena turned back to him.
“I tried to stop her.”
Tears appeared in Serena’s eyes.
“She lost control because Ethan wouldn’t stop crying.”
Lily pushed herself onto one elbow.
“She’s lying.”
Serena’s expression hardened for half a second.
Then it softened again when Victor looked at her.
“Victor, think.”
Serena touched his arm.
“You barely know this girl.”
Lily let out a broken laugh.
“I’ve lived in this house for six months.”
“And you’re paid to be here.”
Serena snapped.
Victor looked at Serena’s hand on his sleeve.
She removed it.
“Everyone stays exactly where they are.”
Victor’s voice changed.
There was steel beneath it now.
Serena blinked.
“What?”
Victor raised his phone again.
“Gabriel.”
His head of security answered.
“Lock the estate.”
Serena’s eyes widened.
“No vehicles leave.”
Victor continued.
“No phones leave.”
“No staff leave.”
“Seal every gate.”
“And bring me every second of security footage from today.”
Serena’s lips parted.
Victor ended the call.
“You’re locking me in?”
“I’m locking everyone in.”
Victor looked at Lily.
“Including her.”
Lily nodded.
She understood.
Serena did not.
“Victor, this is insane.”
“What’s insane is that my fourteen-month-old son is lying on the floor with an injured arm while two people tell me two different stories.”
Victor’s voice lowered.
“I intend to find out which one is true.”
Ethan whimpered.
Victor immediately turned toward him.
That was when Lily saw Serena slip one hand toward the pocket of her dress.
Lily’s eyes narrowed.
Serena noticed.
Their eyes met.
Lily understood instantly.
“Her phone.”
Serena froze.
Victor looked up.
“What?”
“She’s reaching for her phone.”
“I am not.”
Serena stepped backward.
Lily pointed.
“She had it ten minutes ago.”
Serena’s composure cracked.
“Victor, she’s delirious.”
“Give me the phone.”
Victor held out his hand.
Serena stared at him.
“Victor.”
“Now.”
Her hand slowly emerged from the pocket.
Empty.
Victor’s eyes sharpened.
“Where is it?”
“I left it upstairs.”
Lily shook her head.
“No.”
Serena glared at her.
“You were holding it.”
Lily’s breathing was still uneven.
“You recorded me when I begged you to stop.”
Victor’s gaze moved between them.
Serena laughed.
It sounded wrong.
Too quick.
Too nervous.
“That’s ridiculous.”
Lily looked toward the staircase.
“She threw it.”
Serena stopped smiling.
“Behind the white planter.”
Victor turned.
A massive marble planter stood near the bottom of the staircase.
Gabriel appeared from the hallway with two security men.
Victor pointed.
“Check behind it.”
Serena’s throat moved.
Gabriel walked over.
He crouched.
Then reached behind the planter.
When he stood again, a silver phone was in his hand.
Serena said nothing.
Victor looked at her.
“You said it was upstairs.”
“I forgot.”
“You forgot where your phone was less than five minutes after throwing it behind a planter?”
“I dropped it.”
Lily closed her eyes.
“She threw it when she heard your car.”
Serena spun toward her.
“You lying little—”
“Enough.”
Victor’s voice filled the foyer.
Silence.
The trauma team arrived eight minutes later.
Those eight minutes felt like eight hours.
Lily watched as Victor remained beside Ethan.
He never looked away from his son for more than a few seconds.
Serena stood near the staircase with Gabriel watching her.
Her earlier confidence was gone.
But fear had not replaced it.
Calculation had.
Lily could see it.
Serena was thinking.
Planning.
Searching for another way out.
When the doctors entered, Victor moved aside.
Dr. Mercer was joined by a pediatric orthopedic specialist and two nurses.
They examined Ethan carefully.
One nurse placed oxygen near his face.
Another checked his pulse.
The orthopedic specialist looked at Victor.
“We need imaging immediately.”
Victor nodded.
“Do it.”
“We should take him to the hospital.”
“No.”
The doctor hesitated.
Victor’s gaze hardened.
“Bring the equipment here.”
“Victor.”
Dr. Mercer stepped closer.
“If there’s vascular damage, he may need surgery.”
Victor looked at Ethan.
His expression changed.
For the first time, Lily saw something behind the feared mafia boss everyone whispered about.
A father who was terrified.
“Then we go.”
Twenty minutes later, a convoy left the Blackwood mansion.
Victor rode with Ethan.
Lily was put in another vehicle with a nurse because of the pain in her abdomen.
Serena was placed in a third SUV with Gabriel.
She protested.
Victor ignored her.
At Blackwood Medical Center, Ethan was rushed inside.
The hospital technically belonged to a private foundation.
Everyone in Chicago knew the foundation belonged to Victor.
Lily was examined in a room two floors below Ethan.
The doctor told her she had severe bruising but no internal bleeding.
She barely heard him.
“How is Ethan?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“Please.”
The doctor softened.
“Mr. Blackwood is with him.”
That was not enough.
Lily tried to stand.
Pain folded her back onto the bed.
An hour later, the door opened.
Victor entered alone.
Lily sat upright.
“How is he?”
Victor stared at her for several seconds.
“He has a fractured upper arm.”
Lily’s eyes filled.
“The doctors reset it.”
Victor continued.
“There is no permanent nerve damage.”
Lily covered her mouth.
A sob escaped.
Victor watched her.
Something in his expression shifted.
“They expect a full recovery.”
“Thank God.”
Lily whispered.
Victor pulled a chair beside the bed.
He sat.
Neither spoke for a moment.
Then Victor placed Serena’s silver phone on the table.
“The phone is locked.”
Lily looked at it.
“She recorded things.”
“Do you know the password?”
“No.”
Victor leaned back.
“Serena says you attacked Ethan.”
Lily looked straight at him.
“She’s lying.”
“She says you have been rough with him for weeks.”
“She’s lying.”
“She says she planned to fire you tonight.”
“She’s lying.”
Victor’s face remained unreadable.
Lily’s hands tightened around the blanket.
“She started hurting him after you announced the wedding date.”
Victor’s eyes changed.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Lily looked away.
That question hurt differently.
“I tried.”
Victor went still.
“When?”
“Twice.”
“I never received anything.”
“I left a message with Gabriel.”
Victor said nothing.
“I asked him to tell you I needed to speak privately.”
Lily continued.
“He said you were handling business overseas.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“That was one time.”
“And the second?”
Lily hesitated.
“I left a note in your office.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“What note?”
“A blue envelope.”
“I never saw it.”
Lily looked at him again.
“I know.”
Silence stretched between them.
Victor picked up Serena’s phone.
“What was in the note?”
Lily swallowed.
“I wrote that Serena frightened me.”
“That isn’t enough to explain tonight.”
“No.”
“It isn’t.”
Victor waited.
Lily closed her eyes.
She had kept the secret because Serena had threatened her.
She had kept it because she needed more proof.
She had kept it because she had been terrified Victor would believe the glamorous woman he intended to marry instead of a nanny with no power.
Now Ethan had been hurt anyway.
“There’s something else.”
Victor leaned forward.
Lily’s heart hammered.
“I started keeping records.”
“What kind of records?”
“Dates.”
“Photos.”
“Things Serena said.”
Victor stared at her.
“And recordings.”
His face became very still.
“Where are they?”
Lily looked toward the door.
“Not here.”
Victor’s voice dropped.
“Where?”
“In the mansion.”
“Where in the mansion?”
Lily hesitated.
“Ethan’s nursery.”
Victor stood immediately.
“Tell me exactly where.”
“Under the floorboard beneath the rocking chair.”
Victor reached for his phone.
Lily caught his sleeve.
The movement hurt.
He looked down at her hand.
“There’s more.”
Victor waited.
Lily’s fingers began shaking.
“One of the recordings isn’t about Ethan.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“What is it about?”
Lily took a breath.
“Your wife.”
Victor stopped breathing.
His late wife had been dead for eleven months.
No one in the house spoke her name unless Victor did first.
Lily had never seen fear in his face before.
She saw it now.
“What did Serena say about Elena?”
Lily whispered the words.
“She said Elena should have died the first time.”
Victor did not move.
Not even an inch.
Lily continued.
“And then she laughed.”
Outside the room, footsteps suddenly stopped.
Victor turned toward the door.
Someone had been listening.
By the time Gabriel opened it, the hallway was empty.
But lying on the polished floor was a blue envelope.
The same kind Lily had left in Victor’s office three weeks earlier.
May you like
And across the front, written in black ink, were four words.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED.
