Chapter 2: The Rules Beneath the Silence
That night, the Whitmore estate felt colder than usual.
Evelyn stood in the hallway outside the dining room long after the lights had dimmed. She wasn’t supposed to be there. She knew that. But Charlotte’s voice still echoed in her mind.
“She gets angry when people see.”
A floorboard creaked above.
Evelyn looked up.
The second floor hallway was dark—except for a thin strip of light under the east wing door.
The forbidden wing.
Then she heard it.
Soft footsteps. Barely there.
A child’s voice, faint and uneven.
“Mom… I saved it for you.”
Evelyn’s breath tightened.
She climbed the stairs slowly, each step heavier than the last. The mansion seemed to resist her, like the house itself didn’t want her to know what was behind that door.
At the top of the stairs, she stopped.
The door to the east wing was slightly open.
Just enough.
Evelyn pushed it gently.
Inside, the room was not a child’s bedroom.
It was arranged like a memory preserved in time.
A bed untouched. Toys neatly placed. And in the center—another empty chair.
Charlotte was sitting on the floor beside it.
Talking again.
But this time, her voice was different.
Not playful.
Not rehearsed.
Desperate.
“I told you she saw me,” Charlotte whispered. “I told you she’s different.”
A pause.
Then Charlotte nodded, as if listening.
“No… I won’t send her away. Please don’t make me.”
Evelyn stepped back immediately.
A mistake.
The floor creaked.
Charlotte froze.
Slowly, her head turned toward the door.
May you like
And for the first time—
Evelyn saw fear in her eyes.
