Chapter 2 - The Eye Behind the Wall
The security monitor flickered again.
Victor Blackwood stood in the center of the dining hall, staring at the screen that showed his mother’s chair from above.
The angle was impossible.
The camera was not hidden somewhere in the room.
It was inside the chair.
Emma watched Victor’s face carefully.
For the first time since she arrived at Blackwood Manor, the man everyone feared looked completely caught off guard.
Not angry.
Not violent.
Just shocked.
"Turn off every camera in this house."
His voice was calm.
That made it more frightening.
Henry, the senior butler, immediately picked up the phone.
"Yes, sir."
The servants slowly began leaving the room.
Nobody wanted to stay near the chair anymore.
Emma remained frozen.
She looked at the black device in Victor’s hand.
"What is it?"
Victor didn’t answer.
He walked closer to the security monitor.
The screen showed the empty dining hall.
Then suddenly, the image changed.
A second camera appeared.
This one was inside the wall.
It showed a narrow hallway behind the dining room.
A place Emma had never seen before.
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
"That hallway doesn’t exist on the mansion plans."
Henry stopped moving.
Slowly, he turned around.
"Sir..."
Victor looked at him.
"How long?"
Henry lowered his eyes.
"How long what?"
"How long has this room been watched?"
The old butler remained silent.
That silence told Victor everything.
Emma felt a cold feeling in her stomach.
She had worked in wealthy homes before.
She had seen secrets.
Families hiding money.
Families hiding affairs.
Families hiding things they were ashamed of.
But this was different.
Someone had built a surveillance system inside a mansion controlled by one of the most powerful men in the city.
And they had hidden it under the chair of his dead mother.
Victor placed the device on the table.
"Nobody leaves this mansion."
The servants froze.
Victor looked at Henry.
"Lock every entrance."
Henry nodded.
"Yes, sir."
Emma watched everyone move.
They obeyed him instantly.
But she noticed something.
Some of them looked afraid of Victor.
Others looked afraid of something else.
Something they knew.
Something they had been hiding.
Victor picked up the device again.
"Where did my mother keep her personal belongings?"
Henry hesitated.
"Your mother's room."
"Open it."
The butler looked uncomfortable.
"Sir..."
Victor stared at him.
"Henry."
The old man sighed.
"Her room has been locked since the night she died."
Emma looked surprised.
"Twelve years?"
Henry nodded.
"Nobody entered."
Victor looked toward the staircase.
"Then today is the day."
The second floor of Blackwood Manor was quieter than the rest of the house.
Too quiet.
Emma followed behind Victor and Henry.
She wasn’t sure why she was still there.
Maybe curiosity.
Maybe because she had already become part of the mystery the moment she touched that chair.
Victor stopped in front of a large wooden door.
A small silver nameplate was attached.
"Eleanor Blackwood."
His mother’s name.
Victor stared at it for several seconds.
Emma noticed the change in his expression.
He was no longer the cold man everyone feared.
For a brief moment, he looked like a son who missed his mother.
Henry unlocked the door.
The room smelled old.
Dust covered the furniture.
Everything remained exactly as it had been twelve years ago.
A jewelry box sat on the dresser.
A book rested beside the window.
A photograph stood on the nightstand.
Victor walked inside slowly.
Emma stayed near the doorway.
She felt like she was entering somewhere private.
Somewhere she shouldn’t be.
Victor picked up the photograph.
It showed a younger Victor standing beside his mother.
She was smiling.
A rare smile.
"She knew."
Victor whispered.
Henry looked at him.
"Knew what, sir?"
Victor turned the photograph around.
On the back, there was a handwritten note.
Three words.
"Trust no one."
The room went silent.
Emma looked at Henry.
The old butler’s face had lost all color.
"You knew about this?"
Victor asked.
Henry shook his head quickly.
"No."
Victor stepped closer.
"Then why are you afraid?"
Henry looked down.
"Because your mother wrote that message three days before she died."
Victor froze.
Emma felt the tension in the room change.
Three days before her death.
His mother already knew something was wrong.
Victor placed the photograph down.
"What happened three days later?"
Henry didn’t answer.
Victor’s voice became colder.
"Henry."
The butler finally spoke.
"Your mother told me she discovered someone inside the mansion was sending information to people outside."
Emma looked at Victor.
"A spy?"
Henry nodded slowly.
"She believed someone close to the family was betraying her."
Victor looked toward the hallway.
"And nobody told me?"
Henry’s eyes filled with regret.
"Your father ordered everyone to stay silent."
Victor’s expression changed.
His father.
A name he rarely mentioned.
Emma noticed his hand tighten.
"What happened to your father?"
Henry looked away.
"He died two years after your mother."
Victor stared at him.
"Convenient."
Nobody spoke.
Then Emma noticed something.
A small scratch on the floor near the bookshelf.
She stepped closer.
"Wait."
Victor looked at her.
"What did you find?"
Emma pointed.
"The floor."
Victor walked over.
There was a thin mark.
Like something heavy had been dragged.
He moved the bookshelf.
Behind it was a hidden compartment.
Inside was an old envelope.
Victor opened it.
There was a single piece of paper.
A list of names.
Five names.
The first four were crossed out.
The fifth one was circled.
Emma leaned closer.
She saw the name.
But before she could read it completely, Victor folded the paper.
His expression changed.
"Everyone downstairs."
Henry looked confused.
"Sir?"
"Everyone."
His voice was no longer calm.
It was controlled anger.
Ten minutes later, every servant stood in the dining hall.
The same room where Emma had moved the chair.
The same room where the secret began.
Victor stood at the head of the table.
The hidden device rested beside him.
Nobody spoke.
"Someone in this house has been watching me."
The servants looked nervous.
Victor continued.
"My mother knew."
Silence.
"She tried to find out who."
A maid began crying quietly.
Victor looked around.
"One of you knows."
Nobody answered.
Then Emma noticed something.
Henry wasn’t looking at Victor.
He was looking at the empty chair.
The forbidden chair.
Like he was waiting for something.
Victor noticed too.
"Henry."
The old butler looked up.
"Yes, sir?"
"Why are you looking at the chair?"
Henry’s lips parted.
But before he could answer, the lights suddenly went out.
The mansion fell into darkness.
Someone screamed.
A second later, Victor’s phone vibrated.
Everyone heard it.
He looked at the screen.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
One sentence.
"Your mother never trusted the wrong person."
Victor stared at the message.
Then another line appeared.
"She trusted the person standing beside you."
The emergency lights turned on.
Victor slowly looked around the room.
Everyone was still there.
Except one person.
Henry.
May you like
The butler was gone.
And the door to his mother’s locked room upstairs was slowly opening by itself...
