Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Claimed She Never Entered
By six in the morning, the Bellucci estate was no longer quiet.
Security staff moved through the halls.
The head of household operations, Marcus Reed, spoke in a low voice near the main staircase.
Two men from Damian’s private security company arrived through the side entrance.
And Selene Vale stood in the breakfast room wearing cream silk pajamas and looking furious.
“I told you,” she said, “I never entered the study.”
Marcus remained calm.
“Your access card was used.”
“My card was copied.”
“Then we need to determine when.”
Selene folded her arms.
“My card was in my purse all night.”
I stood near the doorway with a tray of coffee cups.
I had no business listening.
I listened anyway.
Damian sat at the far end of the table.
He had changed into a white shirt and dark trousers.
He looked like a man preparing for a board meeting, not a man dealing with a security breach in his private residence.
“How many entries?” he asked.
Marcus glanced at the tablet.
“Three confirmed.”
“When?”
“Yesterday at 10:52 p.m. The night before at 2:13 a.m. And five nights ago at 11:09 p.m.”
Selene stared at him.
“That is impossible.”
Damian looked up.
“Why?”
“Because I was with you.”
“You were with me at ten fifty-two.”
“I was with you before that.”
“That doesn’t answer the other two.”
Selene’s face tightened.
“Are you accusing me?”
“No.”
“You sound like you are.”
“I am asking questions.”
“And I am telling you someone used my credentials.”
Damian leaned back.
“Marcus.”
“Yes?”
“Pull all internal camera footage for those three windows.”
Selene laughed bitterly.
“You think I’m lying.”
“No.”
“Then say it.”
Damian looked at her.
“I think someone wants me to believe you were in those rooms.”
The room went silent.
Selene’s expression softened.
“That is different.”
“Yes.”
“Then you believe me?”
“I believe someone is lying.”
I felt cold.
A strange instinct told me to leave the room.
Instead I placed coffee beside Damian.
His eyes met mine.
“You knew?”
I hesitated.
“About what?”
“The security breach.”
“Rosa told me.”
“Did you see anyone?”
“No.”
“Anyone near the west corridor?”
“No, sir.”
Selene looked at me.
“Of course not.”
I ignored her.
Damian continued.
“Did your daughter leave the staff apartment after midnight?”
My body stiffened.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I was with her.”
He nodded.
Selene picked up her coffee.
“She may have wandered.”
I looked at her.
“My daughter is seven.”
“And?”
“She was asleep.”
Selene smiled.
“I was only suggesting another possibility.”
Damian’s voice became colder.
“Stop.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“Do not suggest my staff member’s child is involved.”
Selene’s lips parted.
“That isn’t what I said.”
“It is what you implied.”
I lowered my gaze.
Damian turned back to Marcus.
“Get the logs.”
By eight, the west corridor had been sealed.
The study belonged to Damian alone.
It held confidential documents, private financial records, and a locked cabinet containing files concerning Bellucci Maritime’s restructuring.
Only four people had regular access.
Damian.
Marcus.
His chief security officer.
And Selene.
Or so they believed.
At ten, the security team found something.
A second badge had been used to open the same study door.
Mine.
I was called into the office.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“I didn’t do it.”
Marcus held up a tablet.
“We know.”
“You said my badge was used.”
“It was.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
“What time?”
“10:47.”
I stared at him.
I had been taking Lily upstairs at 10:47.
“No.”
Marcus showed me the screen.
The access record clearly listed MARA BENNETT.
I felt dizzy.
“That’s impossible.”
Damian stood beside the window.
“What time did you leave the dining room?”
“About nine fifteen.”
“Then?”
“I took Lily to the staff apartment.”
“How long were you there?”
“Until now.”
“You didn't leave?”
“No.”
He studied me.
“You understand how serious this is.”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me everything.”
I did.
I told him about the dining room.
The empty chair.
Selene’s comment.
Lily’s dinner.
Our return to the staff apartment.
The conversation.
The bedtime.
The message from Rosa.
Nothing changed on Damian’s face.
But something behind his eyes sharpened.
“Who could have your badge?” he asked.
“I don't know.”
“Do you keep it on you?”
“Yes.”
“Always?”
“Yes.”
Marcus interrupted.
“Her badge was physically in her uniform pocket during the second scan.”
I stared at him.
“How is that possible?”
“That is what we need to find out.”
Damian looked at me.
“Go back to work.”
I blinked.
“That’s all?”
“For now.”
I left the office shaking.
I found Rosa in the laundry room.
“She knows,” Rosa whispered.
“Who?”
“Selene.”
My stomach dropped.
“What do you mean?”
“Yesterday, before dinner, she asked about the east garage.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“What did she ask?”
Rosa looked around.
“She wanted to know whether the laundry hallway connects to the old archive room.”
The old archive room.
I had worked at the estate for eleven months and had never once been inside.
Later that afternoon, Lily returned from school.
She ran into the staff apartment carrying a paper butterfly.
“Mom!”
I smiled.
“Hey, bug.”
She hugged me.
Then she saw my face.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
She tilted her head.
“You’re lying.”
I almost laughed.
“Who taught you that?”
“You.”
Before I could answer, a black SUV stopped outside.
Damian stepped out.
Lily ran to the window.
“Mr. Bellucci!”
He looked up.
A faint smile crossed his face.
He entered the staff building moments later.
“Mara.”
I straightened.
“Sir.”
“May I speak with Lily?”
I glanced at my daughter.
“About what?”
He held out his hand.
In it was a small wooden puzzle box.
“I found this in the study.”
Lily looked fascinated.
“You want me to solve it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because my security team can't.”
She took the box.
It was old.
The kind of box with hidden panels.
Lily turned it over.
She pressed one side.
Nothing.
Then the bottom.
Click.
A compartment opened.
Damian stared.
I stared.
Inside was a tiny brass key.
Lily smiled.
“I think someone wanted this to be found.”
Damian slowly looked at me.
I felt the first real chill of the day.
“What does it open?” Lily asked.
Damian took the key.
“I don't know.”
But his expression said he intended to find out.
That night, the estate's security system recorded a fourth unauthorized access.
This time, the badge belonged to Selene Vale.
And the camera showed a woman walking toward the basement archive.
She wore Selene’s cream coat.
Selene later insisted she had never left her bedroom.
When Damian watched the footage, he did not look angry.
He looked disappointed.
May you like
Because the woman on the screen was carrying something that could not be mistaken.
A small brass key.
