Chapter 10 — The Enemy Inside Her Home
Vivienne read the message again.
Ethan WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE INSIDE YOUR HOME.
The words felt heavier than the flash drive itself.
For years, she had believed the danger came from outside.
Business rivals.
Greedy relatives.
People who wanted her father’s fortune.
But now she understood something much worse.
The danger had been living under the same roof.
Natalie watched her carefully.
“What are you thinking?”
Vivienne looked down at the phone.
“I’m thinking someone else has been searching for something.”
Marcus frowned.
“Something from the flash drive?”
“No.”
Vivienne shook her head.
“They already knew about the flash drive.”
She remembered the wedding night.
The way Ethan looked when he held the device.
The fear in his eyes.
Not fear of being caught.
Fear of what Vivienne would discover.
“He didn’t steal the flash drive.”
Marcus looked surprised.
“What?”
“He kept it.”
Vivienne looked at him.
“For eight years, Ethan had this evidence.”
Natalie understood.
“He was waiting.”
Vivienne nodded.
“He knew one day he might need it.”
The room became silent.
Because that meant one thing.
Ethan was not just a victim.
He was a participant who eventually became afraid of the people he served.
But fear did not erase what he had done.
Vivienne placed the documents into her bag.
“I need to go home.”
Natalie immediately shook her head.
“That house is dangerous.”
“It’s also where the answers are.”
Marcus stood.
“I’ll come with you.”
Vivienne looked at him.
“Why?”
The lawyer hesitated.
“Because I helped them hide the truth.”
He looked ashamed.
“And because I want to fix what I can.”
When Vivienne arrived at the Carter mansion, something felt different.
The gates were open.
The security cameras were turned away.
Too obvious.
A trap.
She entered carefully.
The house was silent.
Too silent.
Her eyes moved through the familiar hallway.
The photographs.
The furniture.
The memories.
Everything suddenly felt like a carefully designed stage.
Natalie checked the rooms.
“Nothing.”
Marcus walked toward the office.
Then stopped.
“Vivienne.”
She followed his eyes.
Her office door was open.
She knew she had locked it.
Slowly, she entered.
The room looked normal.
But something was wrong.
Her desk drawer was open.
Her files had been moved.
Someone had searched the place.
Vivienne walked toward the computer.
The screen was already on.
A document was open.
A single sentence appeared:
YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO KNOW.
Natalie stepped closer.
“This is a message.”
Vivienne stared at the screen.
Then another line appeared.
The computer was connected to a hidden timer.
Five seconds.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
The entire screen went black.
Marcus immediately pulled the power cable.
But it was too late.
The files were gone.
Someone had remotely deleted everything.
Vivienne closed her eyes.
“They knew we were coming.”
Then she noticed something.
A small object near the keyboard.
A wedding photo.
Her wedding photo.
But someone had drawn a black line across Ethan’s face.
And underneath it was written:
ASK HIM ABOUT THE FIRST NIGHT.
Vivienne froze.
“The first night?”
Natalie looked confused.
“What does that mean?”
Vivienne remembered.
Her wedding night.
The night Ethan disappeared for almost two hours.
The night he claimed he was handling an emergency phone call.
May you like
A memory she had never questioned.
Until now.
