Chapter 2 - The Voice That Should Never Have Been Heard
"TURN THAT RECORDING OFF, CLAIRE. RIGHT NOW!"
Adrian's voice was sharper than I had ever heard it.
I immediately lowered the tablet's volume.
Lily stirred against my shoulder, but thankfully, neither girl woke.
Adrian stood beside the bed, breathing heavily.
For several seconds, he stared at the device as though it were something dangerous.
Then he reached for it.
"Play that part again."
I hesitated.
"Mr. Mercer, the girls are sleeping."
He glanced toward them, and his expression softened.
"You're right."
We carefully untangled ourselves from the twins. I adjusted their blankets while Adrian waited beside the bedroom door.
Once we were in the adjoining sitting room, I played the recording again.
Rebecca's strained voice emerged from the tablet.
"Victor, please. I know what you've been doing with the foundation money."
Then came Victor's reply.
"You should have stopped looking through those accounts, Rebecca."
I watched Adrian's face.
He recognized the voice.
There was no hesitation or confusion.
He knew exactly who was speaking.
"That's him," he whispered.
The recording continued.
Rebecca questioned why Victor was touching her oxygen equipment.
Then came a low mechanical click.
A faint alarm sounded in the background.
Finally, Rebecca spoke again.
"Adrian will find out."
Victor laughed quietly.
"Adrian believes whatever keeps his empire standing."
The words struck Adrian harder than any physical blow could have.
He turned away from me and gripped the edge of a wooden table.
I wanted to say something comforting.
But there was nothing comforting about what we had just heard.
"Is that why you forbade employees from sleeping in the children's bedrooms?" I asked.
Adrian remained silent for a moment.
"After Rebecca died, I couldn't bear to see anyone in that bed. It reminded me of what happened."
He looked toward the door.
"I told myself strict rules would keep everyone safe. But every rule I made seemed to frighten the girls more."
I lowered my eyes.
The mansion was filled with security cameras, armed guards, locked rooms, and carefully controlled schedules.
Yet the two people who needed safety most had spent an entire year feeling abandoned.
"Mr. Mercer, we need to contact the police."
He looked at me.
"Claire, you don't understand what that would mean."
"Then explain it."
Adrian's jaw tightened.
"My businesses aren't all legitimate."
I waited.
"I've made decisions I'm not proud of. There are people who depend on my silence, and people who would destroy me if I started talking."
I held the tablet against my chest.
"Your wife may have died because she discovered something someone wanted hidden."
His expression darkened.
"Don't say that."
"Then tell me I'm wrong."
He couldn't.
I took a steadying breath.
"I'm not asking you to become a different man overnight. I'm asking you to find out what happened to Rebecca."
Adrian stared at me for a long moment.
Then he reached for his phone.
"There's an attorney I trust. Eleanor Price. She handles my legitimate business and family matters. She's never been involved in the other side of my life."
He called her immediately.
When she answered, he didn't waste time.
"Eleanor, I need you at my house. Bring someone qualified to preserve digital evidence."
He listened.
Then his voice changed.
"No, this cannot wait until tomorrow. It's about Rebecca."
After ending the call, Adrian sat opposite me.
"You understand that once this begins, there's no guarantee I can protect my reputation?"
I almost laughed.
"With respect, Mr. Mercer, your reputation isn't the thing I'm worried about."
He studied me.
For the first time, I didn't look away.
"I'm worried about Lily and Emma."
Something shifted in his expression.
Not anger.
Respect.
He looked toward the tablet again.
"Rebecca mentioned the stars."
I nodded.
"She wrote that the answers were hidden where the girls learned to find them."
Adrian rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Rebecca loved astronomy. She converted an upstairs sitting room into a little observatory when the twins were babies."
"An observatory?"
"Not a professional one. Just a room with a telescope, star charts, children's books, and a ceiling she painted herself."
"Does anyone still use it?"
Adrian shook his head.
"Victor had it closed after Rebecca's funeral. He said keeping it untouched would be less painful for the girls."
A chill moved through me.
"Victor closed that room?"
"Yes."
"And nobody has entered it since?"
"Not that I know of."
We looked at each other.
Neither of us needed to say what we were thinking.
Before we could discuss it further, the sitting-room door opened.
A tall man in an immaculate charcoal suit stepped inside.
He was in his late forties, with silver at his temples and pale blue eyes.
He wore a polite smile that somehow made his face colder.
"Adrian."
His voice was smooth.
"I was told you returned home early."
Adrian stood.
"Victor."
My heart began pounding.
So this was the man whose voice we had heard in Rebecca's final recording.
Victor Hale glanced at me.
"Miss Bennett. I hope the girls are feeling better."
I forced myself to answer.
"Much better, thank you."
His eyes moved toward the tablet in my hands.
"That's Rebecca's old device, isn't it?"
I said nothing.
Victor smiled.
"She loved recording little songs for the children."
Adrian moved slightly between us.
"What do you need?"
"Just checking on the household. I noticed some unusual activity on the upstairs security system."
"Nothing that concerns you."
Victor's smile barely changed.
"Of course."
He took one step toward me.
"Although I should mention that some of Rebecca's old recordings were never intended to be kept."
My fingers tightened around the tablet.
Adrian's voice became dangerously quiet.
"What are you saying?"
Victor looked directly at him.
"I'm saying grief can make people misunderstand things."
The room went silent.
Then Victor extended his hand toward me.
"Miss Bennett, why don't you give me the tablet? I'll make sure nothing upsetting reaches the children."
I felt Adrian move beside me.
"Victor."
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
"Take your hand away from her."
Victor stopped.
For a second, something ugly flashed behind his pleasant expression.
Then he slowly lowered his arm.
"Whatever you say, Adrian."
He turned toward the door.
But before leaving, he looked back at us.
"One more thing."
Adrian said nothing.
Victor's smile disappeared.
"If you're planning to open Rebecca's old star room, I strongly advise against it."
May you like
I stopped breathing.
Because neither Adrian nor I had mentioned that room to anyone.
