The House That Heard Everything
Chapter 02 - The House That Heard Everything
Eleanor descended the stairs slowly, one hand gripping the railing. At seventy, she carried herself with the severe elegance of someone who had built an empire by never revealing fear. But when Adrian’s voice came through the phone, every trace of control left her face.
“Adrian?” Maya cried. “Where are you?”
“Do not say my name again. Put the phone on speaker.”
Maya obeyed. Bianca took a step backward.
Adrian’s breathing sounded uneven, as if every sentence cost him. “Maya, are you hurt?”
“I fell. The baby is moving.”
“Call an ambulance. Do not let anyone from Vale Security take you. They work for Victor.”
Victor Dane was Eleanor’s second husband and the chief financial officer of Sterling Maritime. He was also Bianca’s father.
Eleanor looked toward the security cameras mounted above the foyer. “Why would Victor want you dead?”
“Because I found the accounts.”
A door slammed somewhere in the west wing. The call crackled.
“Adrian, come home,” Maya pleaded.
“I cannot. Not yet. There is a blue key inside the old greenhouse clock. Get it before Victor does.”
The line went dead.
For a moment, no one spoke. Then Bianca shook her head violently. “That was not Adrian. Voices can be copied. Someone is manipulating you.”
Maya pushed herself upright, but pain spread through her side. Eleanor knelt beside her and examined the cut on her lip.
“Did you know about this paternity report?” Maya asked.
Eleanor glanced at the paper in Bianca’s hand. “No.”
“It came from a clinic your company owns.”
Bianca’s confidence faltered. “My father gave it to me.”
Sirens sounded outside. Two men from Vale Security entered first, moving faster than the paramedics.
Eleanor rose. “Leave my house.”
“We were told Mrs. Collins is unstable,” one guard said. “Mr. Dane instructed us to escort her to a private facility.”
Maya felt a cold certainty settle inside her. Adrian had been right.
Eleanor stepped between the guards and Maya. “Her name is Maya Sterling, and she is carrying my grandchild. You will not touch her.”
The paramedics arrived behind them, and the guards finally withdrew.
As Maya was lifted onto a stretcher, Bianca followed into the driveway. “You cannot believe one mysterious phone call.”
Maya met her eyes. “You believed a mysterious test because it gave you what you wanted.”
Bianca flinched.
Eleanor climbed into the ambulance beside Maya. Before the doors closed, she looked back at the mansion’s glowing windows.
“That house has microphones in every formal room,” she said quietly. “If Adrian called us there, he knew whoever betrayed him would hear.”
Maya understood the warning.
May you like
The call had not only told them where to look.
It had told the killer they were looking.
