Chapter 5 - WILLIAM’S FIRST LIE
Emma and Nora emerged from the basement at four in the morning.
Nora’s shoulder was bleeding from the needle, and Emma’s temple had begun to swell. They reached the kitchen before either woman could speak.
Mr. Langley was waiting.
He sat at the servants’ table with a glass of untouched brandy.
“You found the recovery suite,” he said.
Nora stared at him.
“You knew.”
“I knew it existed.”
“You knew Ethan was inside.”
Mr. Langley looked away.
Emma placed the forged medical file on the table. She had taken several pages before Isabella seized the folder.
“Why didn’t you tell William?”
“Because Isabella controls every message that enters this house.”
“He arrived yesterday.”
“And she has not left him alone since.”
“Then we wake him now.”
Mr. Langley stood.
“You do not understand. William already believes his son is ill.”
“Because Isabella told him.”
“No. Because Ethan attacked her.”
Emma went still.
Mr. Langley opened a locked drawer and removed a security photograph.
It showed Isabella lying at the bottom of the grand staircase six months earlier. Blood stained her ivory blouse. Ethan stood at the top of the stairs holding a brass candlestick.
“Isabella claimed he struck her and pushed her,” Mr. Langley said.
“Did anyone see it happen?”
“No.”
“Then the photograph proves nothing.”
“William found them seconds later. Ethan was screaming that she was trying to replace his mother.”
Emma examined the image.
A small detail near the staircase caught her attention.
One of Ethan’s shoes was missing.
“Where is the video?”
“The cameras failed that night.”
“Convenient.”
Mr. Langley poured the brandy into the sink.
“I served William’s father for thirty-two years. I know what powerful families do when they fear scandal. They close doors. They pay doctors. They convince themselves that silence is protection.”
“Then stop being silent.”
He looked older than he had the day before.
“William will not believe housekeepers over the woman he intends to marry.”
“He might believe his son.”
“Ethan no longer speaks to him.”
“Because Isabella has been drugging him.”
Footsteps sounded above.
William entered the kitchen wearing trousers and an open-collared white shirt. His expression hardened when he saw Emma’s injury and Nora’s bloodstained sleeve.
“What happened?”
Mr. Langley said nothing.
Emma placed Ethan’s documents in front of William.
“Your son is inside this house.”
William did not touch the papers.
“I searched the west wing.”
“He’s below it.”
Isabella appeared in the doorway.
She wore a silk robe, and her face showed perfect concern.
“William, don’t listen to them.”
Emma turned.
“Dr. Vale drugged us in the recovery suite.”
Isabella covered her mouth.
“Dr. Vale is Ethan’s physician. These women broke into the private medical archives and attacked him.”
William looked between them.
“Where is Vale?”
“At the hospital,” Isabella said. “Nora struck him with a metal instrument.”
“That is a lie,” Nora said.
Isabella’s eyes filled with tears.
“William, I tried to protect your staff from prosecution. Emma has been manipulating them since she arrived.”
Emma pushed the transfer paper toward him.
“This says Ethan is being moved to Maine tomorrow. You were told he was already there.”
William read the page.
His face changed.
Isabella reached for it.
“That is an outdated draft.”
“It was signed two weeks ago,” Emma said. “The transfer date is tomorrow.”
William looked at Isabella.
“Where is my son?”
“He is safe.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“He is receiving treatment.”
“Where?”
Isabella began to cry.
“I promised the doctors I would not expose his location. He threatened to kill me, William. You saw what he did.”
Emma placed the security photograph beside the document.
“Look at his feet.”
William stared at it.
“What?”
“Ethan is missing a shoe.”
“So?”
“The candlestick is in his right hand. The blood is on the left side of Isabella’s head. If he struck her from the stairs, the impact angle is wrong.”
Isabella’s tears stopped.
Emma continued.
“And there are muddy footprints behind Ethan. Someone dragged him from the garden entrance.”
William lifted the photograph closer.
A child’s bare footprint was faintly visible beneath the edge of a carpet.
He looked at Isabella.
“Why was he missing a shoe?”
“I don’t remember.”
“You told me every detail that night.”
“I had a head injury.”
“You said he came from his bedroom.”
Isabella’s voice rose.
“He was disturbed!”
A soft tapping came from the wall behind the kitchen fireplace.
Three knocks.
William stepped toward it.
“Ethan?”
Isabella seized his arm.
“Do not encourage him.”
William pulled away.
The tapping came again.
Then Ethan’s weak voice traveled through the heating vent.
“Dad?”
William’s face crumpled.
He dropped to his knees beside the fireplace.
“I’m here.”
“Don’t let her take me back.”
William looked up at Isabella.
May you like
Every trace of affection vanished from his expression.
“Open the west wing.”
