Chapter 2 - The Secret Camera Behind My Wife’s Portrait
I moved before the second floorboard creaked.
The nursery door slammed shut behind me.
"Matteo!" I shouted.
No answer.
I stepped into the hallway with my gun raised.
The mansion was silent.
Too silent.
Every guard stationed on the second floor should have responded within three seconds.
Nothing.
I pressed the communication button.
"Lock down the house."
Static.
I pressed again.
Static.
Nina appeared behind me holding Leo.
"Don't go out there."
I turned.
"Why?"
"Because that's exactly what they want."
My instincts screamed at me.
"Who?"
She whispered, "The camera."
I looked back at the fake security device.
"That's not the only one."
I followed her gaze.
She was staring at my wife's portrait.
Isabella.
The portrait hung in the corridor outside the nursery.
Her painted eyes seemed to follow us.
"What about it?"
Nina said, "Your wife told me to watch that wall."
My stomach dropped.
"When?"
"The night before she died."
I stared at her.
"You knew my wife?"
"Not personally."
"Then how did she talk to you?"
Nina looked toward the portrait.
"I was cleaning the room that morning."
She took a breath.
"Mrs. Rossi came in."
"What happened?"
"She was frightened."
My wife had never seemed frightened in the last months of her life.
Not to me.
Nina continued.
"She asked if I was loyal."
"What did you say?"
"I said yes."
"Why?"
"Because I thought she meant to the household."
"And?"
Nina looked at me.
"She handed me a key."
"A key to what?"
I walked toward the portrait.
"She said, 'If anything happens to me, don't give this to Lorenzo unless you are certain you can trust him.'"
I turned slowly.
"You trusted me."
"No."
My eyes narrowed.
"I trusted Leo."
That answer hurt more than I expected.
Nina stepped closer.
"Your wife knew someone in this house was working against you."
"Who?"
"She didn't tell me."
"Then why tell you anything?"
"Because she said no one looked at maids twice."
That sounded exactly like Isabella.
She had always noticed people everyone else ignored.
I touched the portrait.
"What key?"
Nina hesitated.
Then she reached into the collar of her uniform and pulled out a small brass key.
I stared.
"Is this it?"
She nodded.
I inserted the key beneath the portrait frame.
A hidden lock clicked.
The entire panel moved.
Behind it was a narrow compartment.
Inside sat a black phone.
And a flash drive.
I stared at them.
My wife's belongings had been searched after her death.
I had ordered it personally.
How had this been missed?
Nina said softly, "Because your wife hid it behind the painting before she died."
I took the phone.
The battery was almost dead.
I powered it on.
One video file.
Timestamped three days before the crash.
I opened it.
Isabella appeared on screen.
She looked exhausted.
She looked directly into the camera.
"Lorenzo, if you're watching this, I'm probably dead."
My throat tightened.
She continued.
"You need to know something about our son."
I leaned closer.
"There is a reason Leo cannot keep formula down."
My heart stopped.
"Someone has been poisoning his feeds."
I stared at the screen.
Nina covered her mouth.
"No."
Isabella continued.
"Not enough to kill him immediately. Enough to make him weaker every day."
My fist tightened.
"Someone has access to the nursery."
She looked off-camera.
"I suspect three people."
The video glitched.
Then the names appeared.
Our private physician.
One senior housekeeper.
And Lorenzo's older brother.
My own brother.
Marco.
The video ended.
I stood completely still.
Marco.
My brother had been my right hand since our father died.
He had protected our family.
He had stood beside me at Isabella's funeral.
He had cried.
I wanted to believe the video was fake.
Then I remembered the broken communication line.
The fake camera.
The blood on Leo's bracelet.
And Isabella's warning.
Nina spoke.
"You see why I was afraid?"
I didn't answer.
I called Matteo from a secure emergency line.
This time someone answered.
"Boss?"
"Where are you?"
"West gate."
"Did you activate the lockdown?"
"No."
My eyes hardened.
"Why?"
"Someone changed the system password."
I looked at Nina.
"Who has master access?"
Matteo hesitated.
"Only you, Marco, and your wife's former security adviser."
My wife had never had a security adviser.
At least, not officially.
I told Matteo to bring everyone into the main hall.
Then I ordered another doctor to analyze every bottle and feeding supply in the nursery.
Within twenty minutes, the impossible became evidence.
One canister contained traces of a sedative compound.
Tiny amount.
Enough to suppress appetite.
Enough to weaken a newborn.
Enough to make doctors believe the problem was neurological.
I looked at Nina.
"How did you know?"
"I didn't."
She shook her head.
"I just knew your son wasn't supposed to be this sick."
Then Leo cried.
Nina moved instinctively.
I watched her hold him.
For a brief second, I saw what Isabella must have seen in her.
Compassion.
Not ambition.
Not fear.
Something genuine.
But trust was a luxury I had stopped affording.
"Stay here."
Nina nodded.
I walked to the main hall.
Twenty-six armed men surrounded the room.
Marco arrived last.
He walked in wearing a dark suit.
He looked at me.
"What's happening?"
I stared at him.
"Someone poisoned Leo."
His expression changed.
"What?"
"Someone with access to the nursery."
Marco looked around.
"Who?"
I stepped closer.
"That's what I'm trying to determine."
He put a hand on my shoulder.
"Brother."
I flinched.
Something inside me hated the contact.
The look on Marco's face was perfect.
Too perfect.
Then Matteo entered carrying a small metal case.
"Boss."
He opened it.
Inside were feeding bottles.
One had a strange scratch near the base.
Matteo said, "This bottle was found in Marco's private office."
Silence.
Marco looked at me.
"You think I did this?"
"I don't know."
"After everything I've done for this family?"
I stared into his eyes.
"That's why I'm not shooting you."
Marco's jaw tightened.
"Then investigate properly."
"I will."
He turned to leave.
I stopped him.
"Marco."
He looked back.
"Where were you the night Isabella died?"
His face went still.
"I told you. At the club."
"No."
I shook my head.
"You said you were at the restaurant."
A long silence followed.
Then Marco whispered, "You don't know what you're asking."
He walked away.
My suspicions became something heavier.
That night, we found another hidden device.
It was inside a wall behind the nursery.
A recording unit.
It had captured hours of audio.
Most of it was useless.
Then one recording played.
A man's voice.
"Increase the dose."
A woman's voice answered.
"What if the baby dies?"
The man replied.
"Then the father will finally become unstable."
My blood turned cold.
That wasn't about money.
It was about me.
Someone wanted my son dead because his death would break me.
Then another voice entered.
A voice I knew.
Isabella's mother.
My mother-in-law.
She whispered:
"What about Lorenzo?"
The man answered:
"Once the child is gone, he'll sign anything."
I closed my eyes.
The conspiracy wasn't coming from outside.
May you like
It was inside the family.
And somewhere in the house, someone was still waiting for Leo to die.
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