Chapter 2 - The Woman Outside the Door
Richard didn't move.
The doorknob turned once, stopped, then turned again.
“Mr. Sterling?” Evelyn called softly from the corridor. “I thought I heard Sophie crying.”
Richard looked at his daughter.
She had fallen asleep against his chest, but even in sleep, her fingers were twisted into the fabric of his shirt. When the footsteps approached, she had grabbed him harder.
He lowered his voice.
“She needs rest.”
“Of course. I only wanted to check on her.”
“You can check on her tomorrow.”
Silence.
Then Evelyn laughed lightly.
“Whatever you think is best.”
Her footsteps receded.
Richard waited until he could no longer hear them before reaching for his phone.
He called Daniel Brooks, the head of Sterling Manor's security team.
“I'm upstairs with Sophie. I want every camera recording preserved. No one deletes anything. No one accesses the system without my authorization.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And tell me exactly what you meant by someone entering her room after midnight.”
Daniel hesitated.
That hesitation frightened Richard more than anything he could have said.
“Sir, the footage shows Mrs. Whitmore entering Sophie's bedroom on four separate nights over the past two weeks. On three occasions, she remained inside for approximately twenty minutes.”
“What was she doing?”
“We're still reviewing it.”
“Review it faster.”
“There's something else, sir.”
Richard stood and carefully laid Sophie beneath her blanket.
“Go on.”
“Several camera recordings from the kitchen and the children's wing were manually deleted. The deletion happened through an administrator account.”
“Whose account?”
“Mrs. Whitmore's.”
Richard stared at the sleeping child.
“Send me everything you've recovered.”
He ended the call and sat beside Sophie until the bedroom clock showed eleven-thirty.
Then he did something he had not done in years.
He went downstairs without announcing himself.
The mansion was mostly dark. A cleaning cart stood abandoned beside the servants' staircase. From somewhere near the laundry room came the low hum of a washing machine.
Richard followed a narrow corridor to the household office.
Evelyn's desk was locked.
He had never questioned why she kept it locked. She managed the house, after all. He had trusted her to handle things he considered too small for his attention.
He called Daniel again.
“Is Evelyn in the main house?”
“Her car is in the garage, sir.”
Richard looked toward the staircase.
“Then find her.”
He didn't have to wait long.
Evelyn appeared carrying a folder.
She stopped when she saw him beside her desk.
“Richard! You frightened me.”
“What's in the folder?”
“Household invoices.”
“Show me.”
Her smile disappeared.
“I'm sorry?”
“Show me.”
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Evelyn placed the folder on the desk.
Inside were invoices for groceries, cleaning supplies, laundry services, and children's clothing.
Richard flipped through them.
The grocery bills were enormous.
The children's clothing expenses were nearly nonexistent.
He turned another page.
A list of household deductions caught his eye.
Special meals: discontinued.
Children's pantry: access restricted.
Kitchen privileges: suspended pending behavioral improvement.
Richard read the lines twice.
“Explain this.”
Evelyn clasped her hands.
“Sophie has been difficult. She refuses ordinary meals and demands expensive treats. I established reasonable boundaries.”
“She's six.”
“And she's old enough to learn discipline.”
“By withholding food?”
“I never withheld food.”
“Then why does this say her meals were discontinued?”
Evelyn leaned forward.
“Richard, you're misunderstanding the paperwork.”
He slid the folder toward her.
“Then help me understand it.”
Her face softened into the sympathetic expression he had mistaken for kindness countless times.
“You've been grieving for three years. I know that. I know how hard it has been since Claire died. But Sophie has learned that crying makes you abandon your responsibilities. She knows she can manipulate you into coming home.”
Richard felt a coldness spread through him.
“You think my daughter made me leave a four-hundred-million-dollar meeting because she wanted attention?”
“I think she's learned how to control you.”
He stared at her.
Then he picked up the folder.
“Effective immediately, you're suspended from managing this household.”
Evelyn's mouth fell open.
“You cannot be serious.”
“Your access to the staff schedules, kitchen, and security systems is revoked. Daniel will escort you to your quarters while we investigate.”
She straightened.
“You're making a terrible mistake.”
“Perhaps.”
“You'll regret humiliating me.”
Richard walked toward the door.
“No, Evelyn. I suspect I'll regret something much worse.”
Behind him, her voice changed.
The warmth disappeared.
“You should have left things alone, Richard.”
He stopped.
“What did you say?”
She recovered quickly.
“I said you should get some sleep.”
But when he turned around, he caught the expression on her face.
It wasn't the expression of an employee afraid of losing her job.
May you like
It was the expression of someone who had just realized her secret was in danger.
And for the first time in three years, Richard Sterling wondered whether the woman who had helped run his home had ever been working for him at all.
