Chapter 1 - The Forbidden Chair
Emma Lawson moved the antique chair three inches and heard the entire mansion go silent.
"Don’t touch it!"
The senior butler grabbed her wrist as she reached beneath the dining table.
Victor Blackwood arrived and found a broken chair leg cover hiding a tiny black device.
Three words were engraved beneath it:
"Project Blackwood."
Victor realized the chair had never been a memory.
It was evidence.
Emma had worked at Blackwood Manor for only fourteen days when she learned there was one rule nobody questioned.
Nobody touched the chair.
Not the cleaners.
Not the servants.
Not even Victor Blackwood himself.
The chair sat at the end of the enormous dining table, slightly separated from the others. It was made of dark carved wood, with a faded golden fabric cushion and intricate patterns on the backrest.
Everyone called it "Mrs. Blackwood’s chair."
Victor’s mother had sat there every night before her death twelve years earlier.
The servants believed Victor kept it untouched because of grief.
Emma thought differently.
She had spent her life cleaning houses where wealthy families turned memories into decorations.
A chair was still a chair.
That morning, she was polishing the dining hall before an important meeting. The long table needed to be perfectly aligned.
When she stepped back, she noticed something unusual.
The chair was not straight.
It was tilted several inches away from the table.
Emma looked around.
Nobody was there.
She pushed it carefully.
Only three inches.
That was all.
Then the room changed.
A silver tray slipped from a servant’s hand.
Another maid stopped walking.
The senior butler, Henry, appeared in the doorway with a face that looked almost frightened.
"What did you do?"
Emma frowned.
"I only moved the chair."
Henry walked toward her slowly.
"You don't understand."
"It was crooked."
"No."
His voice became lower.
"That chair stays exactly where it is."
Emma looked confused.
"It’s a chair."
Henry stared at her.
"Not in this house."
Before Emma could answer, the sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway.
Every servant immediately lowered their eyes.
Victor Blackwood entered the dining hall.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Victor was the kind of man who controlled a room without saying anything.
He wore a black suit, a gold watch, and a cold expression that made everyone uncomfortable.
His eyes moved across the room.
Then stopped on the chair.
"How far?"
Henry swallowed.
"Three inches, sir."
Victor looked at Emma.
She expected anger.
Instead, she saw something else.
Fear.
"You moved it?"
Emma nodded.
"I was cleaning."
Victor walked toward the chair.
Slowly.
Carefully.
As if approaching something dangerous.
"Nobody touches this chair."
Emma looked at him.
"I didn’t know."
"No one does."
His voice was quiet.
"Because nobody has been allowed to."
The room became silent.
Victor reached down and touched the wooden frame.
Then Emma noticed something.
A small red light flashed underneath.
Once.
Then disappeared.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Wait."
Victor looked at her.
"What?"
"There is something under it."
Henry immediately stepped forward.
"Don’t."
But Victor raised his hand.
The butler stopped.
Victor lowered himself beside the chair.
His fingers searched beneath the carved wooden leg.
A few seconds later, he pulled something out.
A small black electronic device.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
Victor turned it over.
There was an old scratch on the surface.
A marking.
A code.
Henry’s face changed.
"Sir..."
Victor looked at him.
"You know what this is?"
The butler said nothing.
That answer was enough.
Victor’s expression became darker.
For twelve years, everyone believed his mother’s chair was sacred because it held memories.
But now he knew the truth.
Someone had hidden something beneath it.
Someone who knew nobody would ever touch it.
Victor stood up slowly.
"Who knew about this?"
The servants looked at each other.
Nobody answered.
Emma watched Victor carefully.
For the first time, she saw something beyond his reputation.
Pain.
His mother had not left him a memory.
She had left him a warning.
Victor pressed the device in his hand.
"Find out who placed this here."
Henry looked terrified.
"Sir..."
Victor turned.
"What?"
The old butler stared toward the dining hall entrance.
His face went pale.
"Because whoever planted that device..."
He stopped.
Victor followed his eyes.
The mansion security screen on the wall suddenly turned on.
A live camera feed appeared.
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The camera was pointed directly at the chair.
And someone had been watching it moments ago...
