Chapter 2 - Damian Fired Every Doctor in the Mansion After Lila Identified the Medicine Bottle Nobody Had TouchedBy noon, Grayhaven House was under lockdown.
No staff member could leave.
Every vehicle was searched.
Every hallway was monitored.
Damian's security team checked cameras from the previous seventy-two hours.
I sat in a private sitting room with Lila.
She was coloring a rabbit.
She seemed strangely calm.
I wasn't.
I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened.
Someone had altered Damian's medicine.
Someone had entered his room.
And my daughter had somehow noticed.
A knock came at the door.
Marco entered.
"Mr. Volkov wants to see you."
I stood.
"Why?"
"He wants to talk to Lila."
I hesitated.
"Is that safe?"
Marco's expression softened.
"Safer than anyone else in this house."
We entered Damian's study.
He was sitting behind a large desk.
His face was still pale.
But he looked stronger.
Dr. Chen stood beside him.
She held the medicine bottle.
"Lila was right."
I stared.
"What?"
Dr. Chen removed her glasses.
"This bottle was tampered with."
Damian looked at me.
"The tablets contained a compound that should not have been there."
"Poison?"
"Not enough to kill immediately."
She paused.
"Enough to make him look as though his heart condition had suddenly worsened."
Damian's jaw tightened.
"Someone wanted a slow death."
Dr. Chen nodded.
"Exactly."
I looked at Lila.
She pointed toward the bottle.
Then shook her head.
Dr. Chen crouched.
"Can you tell me what you noticed?"
Lila touched her ear.
Then Damian's chest.
Then the bottle.
Dr. Chen frowned.
"She felt something?"
I nodded.
"She says she heard something."
Damian leaned forward.
"What?"
Lila looked at him.
Then she pointed toward his bedroom.
She tapped her ear.
Then made a clicking motion.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Dr. Chen stared.
"She heard the bottle being opened?"
Lila nodded.
Damian's eyes darkened.
"Who was in the room?"
Marco answered.
"According to the security log, only three people."
"Names."
"Dr. Mason. Nurse Patricia. And Victor."
Damian became still.
Victor.
His younger brother.
The room seemed to lose temperature.
I didn't know what that meant.
But Damian did.
"Where is Victor?"
Marco hesitated.
"He left the property forty minutes ago."
Damian stood.
"Find him."
Marco reached for his phone.
Damian stopped him.
"Alive."
Marco nodded.
"Of course."
Lila tugged my sleeve.
I looked down.
She was pointing at Damian.
Then herself.
Then she made a heart shape with her fingers.
Damian saw it.
His expression softened.
For the first time, he smiled.
It was small.
Almost invisible.
But it was real.
"She thinks my heart is broken."
I smiled despite myself.
"Maybe she's right."
Damian looked at me.
"You don't fear me?"
"I do."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Good."
"But I'm more afraid of losing my daughter."
Something shifted in his expression.
May you like
He understood.
Perhaps more than anyone.
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