CHAPTER 3 The Secret Hidden Inside The Mansion
Richard started investigating quietly.
He didn't confront Vanessa again.
Not yet.
Because he needed proof.
He needed to know everything.
Every missing piece.
Every lie.
Every secret.
His private investigator, Marcus Reed, had worked with him for years.
But even Marcus looked shocked after reviewing the first reports.
"Richard..."
"What?"
"Are you sure you want to see this?"
Richard stared at him.
"Show me."
Marcus placed a file on the desk.
Inside were reports from former employees.
Housekeepers.
Nannies.
Drivers.
People who had worked inside the mansion.
And every report mentioned the same thing.
Vanessa controlled everything.
Including Sophie.
One former nanny wrote:
"Ms. Vanessa instructed me never to give Sophie food without permission."
Another wrote:
"She said Richard was too soft and didn't understand discipline."
Richard's hands tightened.
Then Marcus placed another document down.
"This one is different."
Richard opened it.
It was from a nanny who had worked there before Vanessa.
Her name was Laura Bennett.
She had disappeared suddenly two years earlier.
The note was short.
But terrifying.
"Richard, if you are reading this, I failed to protect Sophie."
His breathing stopped.
The message continued.
"Your daughter knows things she should never know."
"Ask her about the locked room."
Richard looked up.
"The locked room?"
Marcus nodded.
"There's more."
At that moment, Richard received a message.
From an unknown number.
One sentence.
"Your daughter's mother left you a secret."
Richard stared at the phone.
Sophie's mother.
Anna.
She had died three years ago.
But suddenly...
Her name was appearing again.
The past he thought was buried.
The secrets he thought were gone.
That night, Richard went to Sophie's room.
She was asleep.
But beside her pillow was an old photograph.
A picture of Anna.
Richard picked it up.
On the back was a handwritten note.
A message he had never seen before.
"Richard, if anything happens to me, protect Sophie from the people closest to us."
His heart stopped.
Because Anna had written that before she died.
And now he knew.
This was never just about Vanessa.
Someone had been hiding the truth for years.
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And Sophie...
Had been carrying that secret alone.
