Chapter 6 - Grant Comes Home
The video ended after fourteen seconds.
Daniel leaned closer.
“That’s it?”
Claire replayed it.
Vanessa entered the garage.
She looked directly at the camera.
Then static.
Nothing more.
“Someone erased the rest.”
“Or disabled the camera.”
“But why keep the beginning?”
“Maybe she didn’t know there was an external backup.”
Daniel opened the video properties.
The file had been copied from an older security archive.
Laura must have saved it before confronting Vanessa.
It was suspicious.
Not enough to prove murder.
But combined with Laura’s letter, Noah’s fear, and the secret medication, it was enough to start asking dangerous questions.
Claire called Grant Whitman’s office the next morning.
His executive assistant refused to connect her.
Claire tried again.
And again.
On the fourth attempt, the assistant said Grant was flying home from Singapore.
Claire’s stomach tightened.
Why suddenly?
She learned the answer two hours later.
Vanessa had called him first.
By the time Grant entered the mansion that evening, Claire had already been officially fired.
Vanessa had accused her of breaking into the private third floor and stealing Laura’s possessions.
Grant arrived angry.
Claire watched from across the street.
Tall.
Exhausted.
Still wearing his travel suit.
He walked into the house carrying the expression of a man expecting to solve a staffing problem.
He had no idea his entire life was about to fracture.
Claire sent him a text.
I have something Laura left behind.
No response.
Five minutes later, her phone rang.
Grant.
She answered.
“Mr. Whitman.”
“What did you take?”
His voice was controlled.
“Something your wife desperately does not want you to see.”
“My wife says you entered restricted rooms and frightened Noah.”
“Ask Noah.”
“He doesn’t speak.”
“Then give him a piece of paper with the alphabet.”
Silence.
Claire continued.
“Ask him about the blue bottle.”
Another silence.
“What blue bottle?”
“Ask Vanessa.”
Grant’s breathing changed.
“Where are you?”
“Across the street.”
The curtain in the study moved.
Grant appeared at the window.
Claire stepped from her car.
He saw her.
“Stay there.”
Five minutes later he crossed the road alone.
Claire handed him a copy of Laura’s letter.
He read the first page standing beneath a streetlamp.
His face drained of color.
“Where did you get this?”
“Your third floor.”
“This handwriting…”
“Is Laura’s?”
Grant looked at her sharply.
“Yes.”
Claire handed him her phone.
The video of Vanessa forcing medicine into Noah began playing.
Grant watched.
He watched it again.
Then once more.
His jaw tightened.
“What is she giving him?”
“I don’t know.”
Grant started toward the house.
Claire caught his arm.
“Don’t confront her yet.”
He turned.
“That is my son.”
“And if Laura was right, Vanessa may already have killed once.”
Grant stared at her.
May you like
Then, from inside the mansion, a scream shattered the night.
It was the first sound Claire had ever heard Noah make.
