Chapter 8 - The Night the Power Went Out.
Daniel dismissed Victor from the mansion before dinner.
No one said whether he had been fired.
No one had to.
Victor walked through the marble hallway with the same calm expression he had worn when he arrived.
At the front door, he stopped beside Natalie.
Lucas was holding her hand.
Victor looked down at him.
“You should be careful what stories you believe.”
Natalie stepped between them.
Victor met her eyes.
“Especially stories told by frightened people.”
Then he left.
Daniel watched from the staircase.
He did not speak until the black car disappeared through the gates.
“From now on, nobody enters this house without my approval.”
Natalie looked at him.
“Wasn’t that already the rule?”
Daniel ignored the question.
He turned to Evelyn.
“Change every security code.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Tonight.”
“Tonight.”
The storm intensified after dark.
Wind shook the windows.
Rain streaked down the glass in silver lines.
Lucas refused to sleep in his room.
Natalie found him sitting on the floor outside Claire's red door with the old photograph in his lap.
She sat beside him.
“Your dad is looking through the old records.”
Lucas traced his mother's face with one finger.
“Will he find her?”
“I hope so.”
“What if she doesn’t want me?”
Natalie turned toward him.
“Twenty-four letters say otherwise.”
Lucas looked at her.
That answer seemed to settle somewhere deep inside him.
At 10:17 p.m., every light in the mansion went out.
The hallway vanished into darkness.
Lucas grabbed Natalie.
“Stay.”
“I’m here.”
Emergency lights should have turned on.
They did not.
Natalie heard running footsteps downstairs.
A security man shouted from the foyer.
Then Daniel's voice echoed through the house.
“Lucas.”
Natalie stood.
Her phone showed no signal.
The mansion's internal network was down.
A beam of light appeared at the far end of the corridor.
Someone was moving toward them with a flashlight.
Natalie called out.
“Daniel?”
The light stopped.
No answer.
Lucas pressed against her.
The beam disappeared.
Natalie did not wait.
She took Lucas into the red room and locked the door from inside.
“Under the bed?” Lucas whispered.
“No.”
Natalie looked around.
The room had one narrow dressing room and a balcony door sealed from the inside.
She guided Lucas into the dressing room and crouched beside him.
“Quiet breathing.”
He nodded.
Footsteps stopped outside the bedroom.
The handle moved once.
Twice.
Then someone inserted a key.
Natalie's pulse hammered.
The lock turned.
The door opened.
A flashlight beam crossed the floor.
The person moved directly to the vanity.
A drawer opened.
Then another.
Whoever it was knew exactly what they wanted.
Lucas leaned toward Natalie.
His lips barely moved.
“Victor.”
Natalie's eyes widened.
“How do you know?”
“The shoes.”
She listened.
A faint click came from the polished floor.
Victor always wore metal-tipped heels.
The footsteps moved toward the bed.
Paper rustled.
A low curse followed.
He was searching for the list of returned letters.
Daniel had taken it.
The footsteps turned toward the dressing room.
Lucas began to shake.
Natalie placed both hands around his face.
“Look at me.”
He did.
“You are not alone.”
The dressing-room handle started to move.
Suddenly, the bedroom flooded with white emergency light.
A man's voice cut through the room.
“Step away from that door.”
Daniel.
The dressing-room handle stopped.
Natalie heard Victor speak.
“You don’t understand what she found.”
Daniel's voice was flat.
“I understand you came into my house after I told you to leave.”
“You need me.”
“I needed the truth.”
There was a long silence.
Then Victor said something that changed everything.
“Claire is not in hiding anymore.”
Natalie felt Lucas go still.
Daniel's voice sharpened.
“What did you say?”
May you like
Victor answered softly.
“She has been back in the city for three months.”
