CHAPTER 2: What the Cameras Revealed
On the screen, the second-floor hallway appeared at 2:17 a.m.
The door to Oliver’s room was slightly open.
A tiny figure stepped out, barefoot, holding an old teddy bear.
Oliver stood in the dark hallway, not crying out loud, only trembling slightly.
A few seconds later, Elena appeared at the end of the hallway with a cleaning bucket in her hand. When she saw the little boy, she immediately set the bucket down, ran to him, and knelt in front of him.
There was no sound, but everyone could see that she was speaking very softly.
Oliver reached his arms toward her.
Elena picked him up.
She did not look around to see if anyone was watching.
She did not act dramatic.
She did not kiss his forehead in an exaggerated way.
She simply held him tightly, gently patted his back, and carried him back into his room.
The second clip played.
Three in the morning on a rainy night.
Elena sat on the floor beside Oliver’s bed, leaning against the toy cabinet. Oliver lay in her arms, one hand still holding a strand of her hair. Elena stayed in that position for nearly an hour, afraid that if she put him down, he would wake up.
The third clip appeared.
Oliver had a mild fever. The nanny stood outside the door, talking on the phone. Elena walked by and noticed that the little boy was breathing with difficulty. She immediately ran to call the family doctor, then sat by his bed and changed the warm towel on his forehead.
The fourth clip began.
An afternoon in the back garden.
The three women who had visited Oliver before tonight’s dinner appeared on the screen.
Victoria wore a red dress and held an expensive gift box. She placed a gold-plated toy car in front of Oliver, but when he refused to touch it, her smile disappeared. The camera recorded her bending down and saying something to him with an annoyed expression.
The servant turned on the sound.
Victoria’s voice rang out, quiet but clear:
“Stop pretending to be pitiful. If I become your mother, you will have to learn how to behave like an heir.”
Oliver stepped back.
Victoria smiled coldly.
“A rich child this timid is truly troublesome.”
Victoria stood up abruptly.
“That recording was edited!”
Alexander did not look at her.
He said to the butler:
“Continue.”
The fifth clip appeared.
The woman in the white dress sat with Oliver in the reading room. She held a storybook, but every few seconds she glanced at her phone. When Oliver accidentally dropped his cup of milk, she immediately jumped up and stepped away as if he were something dirty.
Her voice rang out:
“Oh my God, my dress. Why has no one taught this child to be careful?”
Oliver lowered his head.
Elena walked in from outside, quickly wiped the milk from the floor, then gently said:
“It is all right, young master. No one is angry with you.”
The woman in white immediately changed her tone when she saw the camera in the corner of the room.
“Oh, it is all right, sweetheart.”
But Oliver had already hidden behind Elena.
The sixth clip played.
The beautiful woman in the pale blue gown held Oliver in the garden for photos. She smiled tenderly when the photographer lifted the camera. But the moment the camera was lowered, she handed Oliver back to the nanny, wiped her hands carefully with a tissue, then whispered to her assistant:
“As long as I marry Alexander Reed, in a few years we can send the boy to boarding school and be done with it.”
The entire dining hall seemed to freeze.
The woman in the pale blue gown opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Alexander slowly placed the tablet on the table.
There was no loud slam.
No shouting.
But his silence was more terrifying than any rage.
He looked at the three women.
“I invited you here because everyone told me my son needed a mother.”
He paused.
“But it turns out what you needed was not a child to love. It was a family name to help you enter high society.”
Victoria stood up, her face red with anger.
“Mr. Reed, you cannot insult me like this. My family—”
“Your family will receive notice tomorrow morning that all partnerships with the Reed Group have been terminated.”
Victoria froze.
The woman in white quickly said:
“I only lost my temper for a moment. I truly care about Oliver.”
Alexander looked at her.
“Kindness does not need a camera.”
The woman in the pale blue gown lowered her head, no longer daring to look at anyone.
Alexander turned to the butler.
“See the guests out.”
One by one, the three women left the dining hall. Their glamorous gowns dragged across the marble floor, but no one saw beauty in them anymore.
When the doors closed, only Alexander, Oliver, Elena, Mrs. Harper, and a few trusted servants remained in the room.
Alexander looked at Mrs. Harper.
“You knew the night nanny had been neglecting my son?”
Mrs. Harper trembled.
“Sir, I only thought… the young master needed to become more independent. A child in the Reed family cannot remain weak forever.”
Alexander clenched his fist.
“My son is two years old.”
Mrs. Harper lowered her head.
Alexander said:
“From this moment on, you no longer work here. The same goes for every nanny involved.”
Mrs. Harper burst into tears and begged, but Alexander did not change his mind.
After she was taken out, the room became quiet.
Only Oliver’s soft breathing remained.
The little boy rubbed his eyes, tired after all the chaos.
Elena gently picked him up out of habit. But halfway through the movement, she suddenly realized she was standing in front of Alexander. She immediately froze.
“I am sorry, sir. I…”
Alexander looked at her.
“Do not apologize for taking care of my son.”
Elena stayed silent.
Alexander stepped closer, his voice lowering.
“But there is still one thing I do not understand.”
Elena looked up.
“Why did you never tell me?”
That question made her eyes turn even redder.
She held Oliver and gently stroked his soft brown curls.
“Because you never asked.”
Alexander froze.
A very soft sentence.
But it hurt more than any accusation.
Elena continued:
“I did not have the right to walk into your office and tell you that your son was not okay. I tried to tell Mrs. Harper once, but she told me not to forget my place.”
Alexander could not answer.
Then he asked quietly:
“And Sophia?”
When that name was spoken, Elena stiffened.
Alexander noticed it immediately.
“You knew Sophia before you came here?”
Elena lowered her head.
“Yes.”
Alexander watched her carefully.
“Who are you?”
Elena held Oliver a little tighter, as if gathering courage.
“I grew up with Madam Sophia in a charity home before she was adopted. We were not sisters by blood, but she always treated me like her younger sister.”
Alexander fell silent.
He had never known that.
Sophia rarely spoke about her childhood. She only said that before she was adopted, she had lived in a place without much, but there was one friend who always shared the last piece of bread with her.
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Elena whispered:
“That friend was me.”
