Chapter 2 - The Secretary Who Was Never Supposed to Survive
The mansion lockdown lasted six hours.
During those six hours, I learned exactly how quickly rich people became frightened.
Politicians shouted at security guards.
Businessmen threatened lawsuits.
Family members demanded access to private cars.
A famous actress cried in a bathroom because her phone had been confiscated.
None of it mattered.
Julian controlled the building.
Every door remained locked.
Every hallway had guards.
Every employee was questioned.
I sat alone in a conference room with wet hair, borrowed clothes, and a towel around my shoulders.
A security officer entered.
“Mr. Vescari wants you upstairs.”
My stomach tightened.
The seventh floor had been described as private.
Only Julian and his most trusted men used it.
I followed the officer into an elevator.
When the doors opened, I found Julian sitting beside a wall of windows overlooking the dark lake.
His legs were covered by a blanket.
His hair was still damp.
He had changed into a white shirt.
A glass of water sat untouched beside him.
He dismissed the officer.
“Leave us.”
The door closed.
We were alone.
“You lied to me,” he said.
I tried to keep my voice steady.
“About what?”
“Your surname.”
I said nothing.
“Your education.”
Silence.
“Your previous employer.”
I looked at him.
“You investigated me.”
“Yes.”
“And you hired me anyway.”
“I did.”
“Then what exactly is the problem?”
“The problem is that I don't know which lies were mine and which were planted for me.”
His words unsettled me.
Julian pushed a folder across the table.
Inside was my application.
Then another file.
Then photographs.
My apartment.
My brother.
The hospital.
My former employer.
My bank.
My mother.
I felt exposed.
“You've been watching me.”
“For three months.”
I stared at him.
“My job application was submitted eleven days ago.”
“I know.”
“Then why say three months?”
“Because that's how long someone has been moving you toward me.”
The room seemed colder.
He opened another photograph.
A man stood outside my apartment.
I recognized him.
He had followed me two weeks earlier.
“You thought he was a delivery driver,” Julian said.
I remembered.
A man in a gray jacket.
I'd seen him twice.
My hands clenched.
“You're saying someone deliberately arranged for me to apply here?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“That is what we're going to find out.”
I laughed nervously.
“You're asking me to believe someone manipulated my entire life so I'd get a job as your secretary?”
“I know how insane it sounds.”
“It sounds impossible.”
Julian's eyes remained fixed on mine.
“Your brother's medical bill was paid six days before you received the job offer.”
My mouth went dry.
“What?”
He continued.
“You thought your insurance company negotiated a reduction.”
“They did.”
“No.”
He slid a document across the table.
A private payment.
$48,000.
No name.
Just a coded account.
My heart pounded.
“Who paid it?”
“We don't know.”
I stood.
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
I paced toward the windows.
Everything I had believed about the previous few months suddenly looked suspicious.
The reduced hospital bill.
The staffing agency.
The unusually high salary.
The interview.
Even my apartment.
Julian spoke quietly.
“Someone didn't need to force you here.”
I turned.
“They made you grateful enough to come willingly.”
That sentence broke something inside me.
Because it was true.
I had wanted the job.
Desperately.
I had told myself the universe had finally given me a chance.
Maybe the universe had nothing to do with it.
“Who wants you dead?”
I asked.
Julian looked toward the lake.
“Many people.”
“Who had access to your wheelchair?”
“Almost everyone.”
“Who knew you would be near the lake?”
“Everyone invited.”
“Who could remove the retaining pin?”
“A trained mechanic. A bodyguard. Someone from the medical team. Someone from my family.”
I stared at him.
“Your family.”
His jaw tightened.
“That's why I haven't called the police.”
“You should.”
“No.”
“Someone tried to kill you.”
“I know.”
“Then why wouldn't you?”
“Because if the police become involved, whoever did this disappears.”
I understood.
He was not trying to hide a crime.
He was trying to catch the person responsible.
Julian reached for his coffee.
His hand was steady.
“There's another reason.”
“What?”
“They knew the lake.”
I frowned.
“The lake?”
“Yes.”
He pointed toward the water.
“It's twelve feet deep where I fell.”
I nodded.
“So?”
“So the boat ramp is twenty yards away.”
I looked at him.
“If somebody wanted me dead, they could have pushed me into the deepest part.”
He paused.
“They didn't.”
“Why?”
“Because they wanted me to drown slowly.”
I remembered the chair.
The crossbar.
The twisted jacket.
The way he had stopped fighting.
My stomach turned.
“They expected nobody to save you.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because my security detail had been instructed not to enter the water.”
I stared.
“What?”
“They received a specific order yesterday.”
“From who?”
Julian looked at me.
“Victoria.”
His sister.
The woman in cream silk.
The woman who had looked disappointed rather than frightened.
I shook my head.
“Maybe she was afraid.”
“She has never been afraid of water.”
“You can't accuse your sister without evidence.”
“I haven't accused her.”
His expression became colder.
“I'm testing her.”
The next morning, Julian summoned his entire family.
Victoria arrived first.
She looked perfect.
Cream suit.
Pearl earrings.
Calm smile.
Marcus came behind her.
Dominic stayed near the door.
There were six people in the room.
Julian looked at each of them.
Then at me.
“Elena will be taking notes.”
Victoria laughed softly.
“A secretary during a family meeting?”
“She saved my life yesterday.”
Victoria smiled.
“I'm aware.”
Julian's eyes narrowed.
“Are you?”
Victoria's smile disappeared.
He placed the wheelchair report on the table.
“Someone tampered with the chair.”
No one spoke.
Then Julian placed another document beside it.
“The retaining pin was removed at 3:17 p.m.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“And?”
“The security camera in the garage was disabled at 3:16.”
Dominic's face changed.
Julian noticed.
“Interesting.”
Dominic frowned.
“What?”
“You knew which camera.”
Dominic froze.
Julian continued.
“I never said which camera.”
No one moved.
Victoria finally spoke.
“This is ridiculous.”
Julian ignored her.
“Three men had access to the chair.”
He named them.
The first was a mechanic.
The second was a bodyguard.
The third was a medical technician.
“All three were searched.”
He turned toward me.
“Elena found something.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
He nodded toward my notebook.
Inside was a tiny metal fragment I had found caught beneath the chair's armrest after the accident.
I placed it on the table.
The fragment was engraved.
A tiny letter.
V.
Victoria stared at it.
Then she looked at me.
“You planted that.”
My chest tightened.
Julian said nothing.
Victoria stood.
“How dare you?”
“Sit down,” Julian said.
She hesitated.
Then slowly sat.
Julian picked up the metal fragment.
“The chair was serviced six days ago.”
Victoria's voice became softer.
“By your private mechanic.”
“Yes.”
“Then why blame me?”
Julian looked at her.
“I don't.”
He smiled slightly.
“I blame whoever wanted you to think you would be blamed.”
The room went silent.
And for the first time, I saw something in Victoria's expression.
Fear.
Not guilt.
Fear.
Julian saw it too.
He leaned back.
“Now we can begin.”
He turned toward me.
“Elena.”
“Yes?”
“Your brother's hospital has received another anonymous payment.”
I stared.
“How much?”
“Thirty thousand dollars.”
My stomach dropped.
“When?”
“This morning.”
“Who paid it?”
Julian's eyes hardened.
“The same account.”
May you like
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
“Whoever is manipulating you is still watching.”
