Chapter 6 - THE NANNY’S DECISION
Elena did not scream.
She did not tell the caller she was afraid.
She simply pressed the record button on Claire’s tablet and placed her phone on speaker.
“You will not go near Sophie.”
The distorted voice laughed.
“You are still pretending she is your child.”
“No.”
Elena looked toward the hallway where Sophie was drawing.
“I am reminding you that she is a child.”
The call ended.
Elena sent the recording to Adrian.
He arrived at Claire’s house with Marcus and six security officers.
His face was pale with fury.
“Why did you answer an unknown call?”
“I didn’t know who it was.”
“You should have called me immediately.”
“I did.”
“You waited three minutes.”
“I recorded him.”
“You took a risk.”
Elena stepped closer.
“Do not confuse your fear with my mistake.”
Adrian stopped.
Claire Vale entered the room.
Unlike her brothers, Claire had stayed far from the family company.
She worked as a pediatric surgeon and had little patience for billionaire arguments.
“Elena protected Sophie while you were still flying across town.”
Adrian lowered his voice.
“I am not blaming her.”
“You sound exactly like you are.”
Sophie appeared at the end of the hallway.
The adults became quiet.
She held up a drawing.
It showed the Vale mansion.
Elena stood beside Sophie.
Adrian stood on the other side.
Celeste was drawn outside the gate.
A tall man wearing a black cap stood near the terrace.
Adrian crouched beside her.
“Who is that?”
“The man Celeste talked to at night.”
Elena and Adrian exchanged a look.
“You saw him before?” Adrian asked.
Sophie nodded.
“He came through the garden door.”
“When?”
“A lot.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“Celeste said he fixed the cameras.”
Marcus knelt beside the drawing.
“Did you ever hear his name?”
Sophie thought carefully.
“She called him D.”
The security chief stood.
“If Damien entered regularly, he may have installed a physical bypass.”
They returned to the mansion under police protection.
Marcus’s team searched the terrace.
Behind a stone planter, they found a hidden network relay.
It had been intercepting the home’s camera feeds for months.
Damien could disable cameras, replay old footage, and monitor conversations.
Celeste’s claim that the cameras showed only what she wanted suddenly carried more weight.
Yet she had made one mistake.
She had not known about the backup cameras built into Adrian’s new smart-glass televisions.
Those cameras stored encrypted copies on a separate network.
That was how the Rolex incident had been recorded.
Marcus began reviewing months of backup footage.
Elena watched the screen beside him.
At 2:17 a.m. six weeks earlier, Celeste entered Adrian’s study.
Damien followed her.
Julian entered ten minutes later.
The three stood before the hidden safe.
Their conversation had no audio.
However, Celeste held up three fingers.
Damien nodded.
Julian shook his head.
Then Celeste pointed toward the ceiling.
Toward the bedrooms.
Toward Sophie.
Adrian stared at the image of his wife using his daughter as leverage.
Marcus enlarged the frame.
Julian was holding a document.
At the bottom was a familiar blue seal.
It was the seal of the Vale Family Trust.
Adrian’s father had left controlling shares of Vale Technologies to Sophie.
The shares would remain locked until her twenty-fifth birthday.
Unless her legal guardian approved an early transfer.
May you like
Celeste had not merely been trying to steal technology.
She had been trying to steal Sophie’s inheritance.
