Chapter 2 - The Flash Drive in the Safe
The silence in the grand foyer was so absolute that the distant ticking of the grandfather clock in the study sounded like a hammer blow. I held the small silver flash drive between my thumb and forefinger, feeling the chill of the metal against my skin. Victoria remained slumped against the mahogany table, her manicured hands clutching the shimmering fabric of her skirt as silent, furious tears carved tracks through her carefully applied makeup.
“What is this?” I asked, my voice dangerously low.
Victoria didn't answer. She kept her gaze fixed on the polished floor, her shoulders shaking—not from grief, but from an impotent rage that seemed to consume her.
I unfolded the thick cream-colored stationery. The handwriting was unmistakable. It was Sarah’s neat, elegant script, penned just weeks before her passing when her illness had already begun to take a heavy toll on her strength. My eyes scanned the first few lines, and the ground beneath my feet seemed to vanish.
“Daniel, if you are reading this, it means I am gone, and the worst of my fears has come true. Victoria was never the friend she pretended to be.”
I stopped, my breath catching in my throat as I looked up from the letter and stared at the woman on the floor. Victoria shrank back from my gaze, hugging her knees to her chest.
“Mrs. Gable,” I said, not looking away from Victoria. “Take Lily to the East Wing. Get her some hot chocolate and stay with her until I come find you.”
“Yes, Mr. Daniel,” Mrs. Gable murmured, her face etched with profound shock as she gently took Lily’s small, unresisting hand and led her away from the foyer.
As soon as the heavy oak doors of the East Wing hallway clicked shut, I stepped closer to Victoria, kneeling down so I was eye-level with her. The scent of her expensive bridal perfume—once comforting—now made my stomach turn.
“You knew Sarah before she died,” I said, stating it not as a question, but as a chilling realization. “You acted like you two only met at that charity gala six months after the funeral. But Sarah knew you.”
Victoria raised her head, her eyes flashing with a sudden, desperate defiance. “She was paranoid, Daniel! The cancer had spread to her brain toward the end; the doctors told you she wasn't thinking clearly! She imagined enemies everywhere, and she dragged me into her delusions because she was jealous of us!”
“Jealous of us?” I snapped, the anger finally breaking through my shock. “Sarah was dying, Victoria! And you weren't even in our lives back then—or so you claimed.”
“We went to university together, all right? Are you happy now?” Victoria spat out the words, her voice laced with venom. “Years ago, before you and I ever crossed paths. But we weren't friends. She always thought she was better than everyone else. When I saw you at that fundraiser after she passed, I saw a chance to build a real future—a secure future. I earned my place in this house!”
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“By terrorizing a five-year-old child and trying to steal her dead mother's belongings?” I stood up, towering over her. “What is on this drive, Victoria? What secret was Sarah trying to keep safe inside a child's toy?”
Victoria let out a harsh, bitter laugh, her gaze locking onto the silver flash drive in my hand. “Go ahead. Plug it into your study computer. See what your saintly first wife was really up to behind your back. But don't say I didn't warn you, Daniel. Once you open those files, your perfect little world is going to burn to the ground.”
