Chapter 2 - The Woman Behind The Smile
The unknown number kept ringing.
I stared at the screen for three seconds before answering.
"Hello?"
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then a voice whispered.
"Mr. Cole, if you are watching the cameras, you need to stop."
My entire body went still.
The voice was familiar.
Not because I heard it often.
Because I had heard it every day for eleven years.
"Rosa?"
The line went quiet.
Then she answered.
"Yes."
I stood up from my chair.
"Where are you?"
Another pause.
"I can't tell you."
My eyes moved back to the security monitors.
The mansion was still there.
Beautiful.
Silent.
Perfect.
The same place where I had raised my daughters.
The same place where I had believed I was protecting my family.
But now every corner felt like a stranger's house.
"Rosa, what is happening?"
Her voice trembled.
"Mr. Adrian, you need to listen carefully. Do not come home yet."
My grip tightened around the phone.
"Why?"
"Because Vanessa knows."
My heart dropped.
"What does she know?"
The line suddenly became filled with static.
"She knows you didn't go on the business trip."
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
Rosa knew.
Vanessa knew.
And somehow, they both knew different parts of the truth.
For the first time in my life, I felt completely blind.
I replayed the footage from my office.
Again.
And again.
Vanessa opening my drawer.
Vanessa taking my documents.
Vanessa meeting that man.
Every time I watched it, I wanted to believe there was another explanation.
Maybe the man was a lawyer.
Maybe the documents were unrelated.
Maybe I was misunderstanding everything.
But then I remembered her words.
"Once Adrian signs the final papers, everything belongs to us."
Those words were impossible to misunderstand.
I grabbed my jacket and walked toward the door.
Then I stopped.
Rosa's warning echoed in my head.
Do not come home yet.
I hated that I listened.
But I knew Rosa.
She had never lied to me.
Not once.
I called my security manager, Daniel.
He answered immediately.
"Mr. Cole?"
"Daniel, I need you to do something for me."
His tone changed.
"Is something wrong?"
"I need every security file from my mansion copied immediately. Every camera. Every deleted file. Every access record."
There was silence.
Then he asked:
"Are you investigating someone inside the house?"
I looked at the monitors.
At my daughters.
At Vanessa.
"Yes."
Another pause.
"Who?"
I didn't answer.
Because saying her name out loud made it real.
"Just get me the files."
Daniel worked fast.
Within twenty minutes, my computer began receiving folders.
Thousands of videos.
Thousands of moments I had never seen.
A life happening inside my own home without me knowing.
I opened the first file.
It was from three days earlier.
The living room.
Rosa was sitting with my daughters.
Lily was crying.
My heart tightened.
I increased the audio.
"I don't like Vanessa anymore," Lily whispered.
Rosa looked worried.
"Why would you say that, sweetheart?"
"Because she told us Daddy doesn't need us anymore."
I froze.
My hands went cold.
Rosa leaned closer.
"Did she really say that?"
Lily nodded.
"She said when she marries Daddy, things will change."
Emma hugged her teddy bear.
"She said we were making Daddy tired."
I stopped the video.
I couldn't breathe.
For months, Vanessa had told me Rosa was turning my daughters against her.
But the truth was the opposite.
Someone had been poisoning my daughters against me.
And I had blamed the wrong person.
I opened another file.
This one was from the kitchen.
Vanessa was standing with Rosa.
The two women were alone.
Vanessa looked different.
The sweetness was gone.
"You're making this harder than it needs to be," Vanessa said.
Rosa looked confused.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"I would never hurt Adrian or the girls."
Vanessa smiled.
A cold smile.
"That's why you're dangerous."
I leaned closer.
Rosa looked afraid.
"I don't understand."
Vanessa stepped forward.
"You've been here too long. You know too much."
The video ended.
I sat back.
My mind was racing.
Rosa wasn't stealing.
Rosa wasn't manipulating my children.
She was being threatened.
I immediately called her.
She answered after one ring.
"Mr. Adrian."
"Tell me everything."
Silence.
"Rosa, please."
Her breathing became shaky.
"I tried to tell you."
"I know."
"I tried so many times."
I closed my eyes.
The guilt hit harder than anger.
"Why didn't you?"
"Because Vanessa warned me."
"What did she say?"
Rosa hesitated.
Then whispered:
"She said if I told you anything, she would make sure I never saw Lily and Emma again."
I looked at the screen showing my daughters sleeping in their room.
A wave of anger moved through me.
"Rosa, I need you to leave the house."
"No."
Her answer surprised me.
"No?"
"I can't leave the girls."
My expression softened.
Even after everything.
Even after being accused.
She was still protecting them.
"Rosa..."
"Mr. Adrian, there is something else."
I waited.
"What?"
"I found something in Vanessa's room."
My chest tightened.
"What did you find?"
"A folder."
"What kind of folder?"
"I don't know. But it had your name on it."
I stood up.
"Where is it?"
"I hid it."
"Where?"
Another pause.
Then she whispered:
"Somewhere Vanessa will never think to look."
Before I could ask another question, I heard a noise through the phone.
A door closing.
"Rosa?"
No answer.
"Rosa, are you there?"
Her breathing changed.
She sounded scared.
"Mr. Adrian..."
"What?"
"Someone is in the room with me."
The call went silent.
"Rosa?"
Nothing.
I grabbed my keys.
This time, I didn't care about the warning.
I was going home.
But before I reached the door, my security system sent me a new notification.
A new camera had just activated.
Not one of mine.
Someone had installed it inside my mansion.
I opened the live feed.
The camera showed my office.
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And standing in front of my desk was a person I never expected to see.
Rosa.
