Chapter 8 - The Eyes Hidden Inside My Home
For a moment, nobody moved.
The nursery monitor continued to flicker.
A small red light blinked in the corner of the screen.
Once.
Twice.
Then again.
A recording device.
Not a malfunction.
Not a technical problem.
Someone had installed it deliberately.
Someone had been watching my daughters.
Watching Elise.
Watching me.
The anger that moved through my body was different from anything I had felt before.
It wasn’t the anger of a businessman who had been betrayed.
It wasn’t the anger of a man whose pride had been damaged.
It was the anger of a father.
Someone had entered my home.
Someone had invaded the one place where my children were supposed to be safe.
My hands tightened.
“Victor.”
He immediately understood.
“Already moving.”
He grabbed his phone and signaled the security team.
Within seconds, the mansion transformed.
The quiet home became a controlled operation.
Security personnel moved through every hallway.
Every entrance.
Every room.
I stood frozen, staring at the monitor.
That little red light felt like an insult.
Someone had been there.
Someone had been close.
And I never knew.
The thought made me sick.
Elise stood beside me.
Her face was pale.
“Mr. Caruso…”
I looked at her.
“How long?”
She looked confused.
“How long what?”
“How long has it been there?”
“I don’t know.”
I studied her expression.
She looked genuinely shocked.
And for the first time, I believed her completely.
She had not known.
Which meant whoever installed it had been hiding from everyone.
Even Elise.
Even Marcus.
Even Isabella.
Marcus stepped closer to the screen.
His expression had changed completely.
The calm confidence was gone.
The mystery in his eyes had been replaced by something else.
Recognition.
“You know something.”
My voice was sharp.
Marcus didn’t answer.
“Marcus.”
He looked at me.
“I’ve seen this before.”
The room became quiet.
“Where?”
He stared at the monitor.
“Isabella’s office.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“Before she died.”
I stepped forward.
“You knew someone was watching her?”
Marcus closed his eyes for a moment.
“Yes.”
The answer hit me like a physical blow.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“You suspected someone was spying on my wife, and you didn’t tell me?”
His jaw tightened.
“I tried.”
“When?”
“After she discovered the financial records.”
I stared at him.
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
Marcus looked away.
“Because she found something worse.”
My voice lowered.
“What?”
He hesitated.
Then said:
“She discovered the person watching her wasn’t a stranger.”
The room felt colder.
Someone close.
Again.
I hated that phrase.
“Who?”
Marcus shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Isabella never told me.”
I studied him.
For the first time, I realized something.
Marcus Vale was not standing in my house like a man who had all the answers.
He was standing there like a man who had lost someone too.
Someone he cared about.
Someone he couldn’t save.
“Tell me everything.”
Marcus looked at Elise.
Then at the nursery.
Finally, he nodded.
“After Isabella found the financial records, she contacted me.”
“Why you?”
“Because I had experience dealing with situations like that.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“That sounds suspicious.”
“It is.”
His honesty surprised me.
“I know how it sounds.”
“Then explain.”
Marcus took a breath.
“I spent years investigating corporate corruption.”
“You were a private investigator?”
“Something like that.”
“Something like that?”
His expression hardened.
“Daniel, there are things about my past that are complicated.”
I almost laughed.
“Everyone connected to my wife seems to have a complicated past.”
Nobody argued.
Because it was true.
Marcus continued.
“Isabella believed someone was using your company to move money illegally.”
I frowned.
“My company?”
“Yes.”
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
He looked directly at me.
“It’s exactly why it was possible.”
I didn’t like that answer.
“Explain.”
“People don’t steal from strangers.”
A pause.
“They steal from people who trust them.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
Because my entire empire was built on trust.
I trusted my executives.
My partners.
My employees.
And if someone inside had betrayed me...
The damage would be impossible to measure.
Victor returned.
His expression was serious.
“Sir.”
I turned.
“What did you find?”
He looked at Marcus.
Then at Elise.
Then back at me.
“The device is real.”
My jaw tightened.
“Who installed it?”
“That’s the problem.”
He placed a small evidence bag on the table.
Inside was a tiny camera.
“We don’t know.”
“Security footage?”
“Gone.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“Someone deleted the footage from the last three months.”
Three months.
My mind raced.
Three months ago.
That was around the time Isabella became sick.
Around the time everything changed.
“Can it be recovered?”
Victor nodded.
“We’re trying.”
I looked at the camera.
Three months of my life.
Three months of my daughters’ lives.
Three months someone had been listening.
Then something occurred to me.
“Wait.”
Everyone looked at me.
“The person who installed this…”
I pointed at the camera.
“They weren’t just watching.”
Marcus understood immediately.
“They were listening.”
I nodded.
“They knew what Isabella knew.”
Silence.
Elise’s face changed.
“Oh no…”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She slowly stepped backward.
“Yesterday.”
“What about yesterday?”
“When you opened Isabella’s letter…”
Her voice became quiet.
“I told you about Marcus.”
My stomach dropped.
“Yes.”
“And then…”
She looked toward the camera.
“We talked about the letter.”
The room went silent.
Because suddenly, the timeline became clear.
Someone had heard everything.
Someone knew Marcus had returned.
Someone knew about Isabella’s letter.
Someone knew about the investigation.
Marcus walked toward the device.
“He knows.”
“Who?”
Marcus looked at me.
“The person Isabella was afraid of.”
My phone vibrated.
Everyone turned.
Unknown number.
Again.
This time, there was a photo.
I opened it.
And my blood froze.
It was a picture of me.
Taken inside my office.
Yesterday.
While I was reading Isabella’s letter.
The angle was impossible.
The person had been inside the house.
Watching me.
Then another message appeared.
“You finally found the camera.”
A second message followed.
“But you’re still looking in the wrong direction.”
I stared at the screen.
Then another photo arrived.
This one was older.
Much older.
A picture of Isabella.
Holding newborn Maisie and Rosie.
Standing beside someone.
Someone I recognized.
My breath disappeared.
Because the person standing beside my wife...
Was someone I trusted.
Someone who had been in my life for years.
Someone I never suspected.
I looked up slowly.
And whispered:
“Victor…”
Everyone turned.
The security chief went completely still.
Because he recognized the photograph too.
May you like
And his face told me everything.
He knew.
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