Chapter 2 - The Maid Who Knew Too Much
A little girl grabbed her father's hand and whispered:
"Daddy... Emma said someone was watching me."
When Gabriel Moretti entered the nursery, he found Lily holding a broken camera piece.
On the back of the device was a serial number.
The same number appeared in the security report from his head of security.
Gabriel suddenly realized the danger had never been outside his mansion.
The first thing Gabriel did after watching the footage was remove every employee from the security floor.
No explanations.
No warnings.
No second chances.
The guards knew better than to ask questions when Gabriel Moretti became silent.
His silence was never peace.
It was preparation.
The security chief, Marcus Vale, stood across from him with a tablet in his hand.
Marcus had worked for Gabriel for twelve years.
He had protected him during negotiations.
He had stood beside him during threats.
He had taken bullets meant for him.
If Gabriel trusted anyone with his life, it was Marcus.
But trust had become a dangerous word inside the Moretti mansion.
"Show me again," Gabriel said.
Marcus tapped the screen.
The video appeared.
The hallway outside Lily's room.
Three weeks earlier.
2:13 a.m.
A shadow moved through the corridor.
The person stopped beside Lily's door.
Then the camera went black.
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
"Why didn't I receive this?"
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
"Because the original camera system didn't record it."
"Then how do you have this?"
A pause.
"Because someone installed a second system."
Gabriel stared at him.
"A second system?"
Marcus nodded.
"Hidden cameras. Different network. Different access."
The room became colder.
Gabriel looked at the screen again.
Someone had been watching his daughter.
Inside his house.
For weeks.
Maybe months.
"Find every device," Gabriel ordered.
Marcus nodded.
"We already started."
"No."
Gabriel looked at him.
"You started searching after I found out."
His voice lowered.
"I want to know why I didn't know before."
Marcus didn't answer.
Because there was only one possible answer.
Someone powerful enough had hidden it.
Someone close enough.
Gabriel left the office without another word.
He walked through the mansion.
The same halls where he had walked thousands of times.
The same paintings.
The same marble floors.
The same expensive furniture.
But everything looked different now.
Because fear changed the way a person saw their own home.
The Moretti mansion had always been a fortress.
Tonight, Gabriel wondered if it had been a cage.
When he reached the living room, he stopped.
Emma was sitting on the floor with Lily.
No cameras.
No doctors.
No pressure.
Just the two of them.
Lily held a small wooden puzzle piece.
Emma pointed toward the empty space.
"Try again."
Lily looked frustrated.
"I can't."
Emma smiled.
"That's not true."
Lily looked down.
"I tried."
"I know."
"And I failed."
Emma shook her head.
"No."
Lily looked confused.
Emma gently touched the puzzle.
"You learned one way that didn't work."
The little girl stared at her.
Gabriel stayed hidden near the doorway.
Listening.
He had heard powerful people give speeches.
He had heard politicians promise change.
He had heard businessmen explain success.
But he had never heard anyone speak to Lily like this.
Not like she was broken.
Not like she was fragile.
Like she was capable.
Lily placed the piece again.
It fit.
Her eyes widened.
"I did it."
Emma smiled.
"You did."
Sophia ran into the room.
"I knew she could!"
Lily laughed.
Gabriel closed his eyes for a moment.
He almost forgot what he had come to do.
Almost.
Then Lily noticed him.
Her smile disappeared.
"Daddy?"
Gabriel stepped forward.
Emma immediately stood.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Moretti. I should have informed you about the exercises."
Gabriel looked at her.
"Why didn't you?"
Emma hesitated.
Because she knew the wrong answer could cost her the job.
But she gave the honest one.
"Because everyone already told Lily what she couldn't do."
Gabriel said nothing.
Emma continued.
"I didn't want another person telling her that."
The words hit harder than he expected.
Because they were true.
Gabriel looked at Lily.
His daughter looked away.
And suddenly he understood something painful.
She wasn't afraid of walking.
She was afraid of disappointing him.
"Lily."
The child looked up.
"Did you think I would be angry?"
A small nod.
Gabriel felt something break inside him.
The world knew Gabriel Moretti as a man who could destroy enemies without emotion.
But his daughter had been afraid of his disappointment.
That hurt more than any bullet.
He walked closer.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Then he kneeled.
A position no one in his organization had ever seen.
"Why would I be angry?"
Lily shrugged.
"Because I can't run like Sophia."
Gabriel looked at Sophia.
Then back at Lily.
"You don't have to run like Sophia."
He touched her small hand.
"You only have to be Lily."
The little girl studied his face.
Then she leaned forward.
A tiny movement.
But Gabriel noticed.
Because Lily didn't hug easily.
She hugged Emma.
She hugged Sophia.
But with him...
She was always uncertain.
That night, she hugged him first.
And Gabriel Moretti nearly forgot how to breathe.
Emma quietly stepped away.
She gave them privacy.
But before leaving, Gabriel noticed something.
On the table beside her was a notebook.
A simple brown notebook.
He picked it up.
Emma immediately turned.
"Mr. Moretti."
He looked at the pages.
It wasn't personal.
It was notes.
Lily's progress.
Daily observations.
Small victories.
Things no doctor had written.
March 3:
"Lily stood for five seconds without fear."
March 8:
"Lily moved three steps while laughing."
March 12:
"Lily asked to try again."
Gabriel flipped another page.
Then another.
Months of notes.
Months of moments he had missed.
His expression changed.
"You kept all of this?"
Emma nodded.
"I wanted someone to remember."
Gabriel looked at her.
"Why?"
Emma's eyes softened.
"Because children notice when adults stop believing in them."
Silence.
Then Gabriel closed the notebook.
"Where did you learn that?"
Emma looked away.
For the first time, she seemed uncomfortable.
"My mother."
Gabriel noticed.
"What happened to her?"
Emma didn't answer immediately.
"She spent years in hospitals."
Gabriel waited.
"She taught me that people don't always need someone to fix them."
A pause.
"Sometimes they need someone to stay."
The words stayed with him.
Because Gabriel had spent years trying to fix Lily.
Money.
Doctors.
Equipment.
Specialists.
Everything except the one thing she needed most.
Someone who stayed.
Later that night, Gabriel returned to his office.
The notebook was still in his hand.
He opened the security files again.
The hidden camera.
The unknown person.
The missing footage.
Something didn't connect.
Emma was helping his daughter.
Not hurting her.
So why had someone been watching Lily?
And why had someone hidden the cameras from him?
His phone rang.
Marcus.
Gabriel answered immediately.
"Tell me."
"We found another device."
"Where?"
A pause.
Marcus sounded different.
Not cautious.
Afraid.
"Inside Lily's nursery."
Gabriel stood.
"Who installed it?"
Marcus didn't answer.
"Marcus."
The security chief breathed out.
"We checked the access logs."
"And?"
A long silence.
Then:
"The person who placed the camera entered using your private authorization code."
Gabriel froze.
"Impossible."
"Boss..."
"No one has that code."
Marcus hesitated.
Then said quietly:
"Someone does."
Gabriel looked toward the nursery camera feed.
The screen showed Lily sleeping peacefully.
Then the image flickered.
A new message appeared on the hidden system.
One sentence.
One name.
May you like
And Gabriel recognized it immediately.
Because it was the name of the person who had betrayed him years ago.
