CHAPTER 2 — THE INVESTIGATION THAT SHOOK THE MANSION
Richard didn't shout.
That frightened everyone even more.
He slowly helped Emily to her feet.
Her hands were covered in cuts.
Her knees were bruised.
There were old scars on her wrists he had never seen before.
His heart sank.
"What happened to you?"
Emily hesitated.
Victoria stepped forward immediately.
"Oh Richard, she's exaggerating. Emily wanted discipline. She asked to help the staff. Teenagers love attention—"
"Enough."
One word.
Victoria instantly fell silent.
Richard turned toward the head butler.
"For twenty-two years you've worked for my family."
"Look me in the eyes."
"Has my daughter been treated like this?"
The elderly butler trembled.
He looked at Victoria.
Then back at Richard.
Tears filled his eyes.
"...Yes, sir."
The room exploded into whispers.
Victoria's wine glass slipped from her hand and shattered across the marble.
Richard ordered every servant to gather in the ballroom.
One by one, the truth poured out.
Emily had been denied proper meals.
Locked out of her own bedroom.
Forced to sleep in a storage room.
Punished for speaking.
Humiliated in front of guests.
Even worse...
Victoria had intercepted Richard's letters and gifts for Emily.
Every birthday present...
Every Christmas gift...
Every handwritten note...
Hidden away for years.
Richard stood frozen as box after box was brought from a locked attic.
Emily stared at them in disbelief.
She had thought her father had forgotten her.
Instead...
He had never stopped loving her.
Victoria screamed.
"They're lying!"
"They're trying to ruin me!"
Richard quietly handed his phone to his chief of security.
"Bring in the digital forensic team."
Within hours, investigators recovered deleted security backups from a remote cloud server Richard himself had secretly installed years before.
Nobody in the house knew they existed.
The footage appeared on the giant screen.
There was Victoria.
Slapping Emily.
Ordering servants to throw away her clothes.
Laughing while Nathan poured freezing water over her.
Watching Chloe cut up Emily's childhood photos.
Every second...
Recorded.
Every lie...
Destroyed.
Nathan collapsed into a chair.
Chloe burst into tears.
Victoria's elegant mask finally shattered.
"You don't understand!"
"I did everything for this family!"
Richard looked at her with empty eyes.
"No."
"You did everything..."
"For yourself."
He reached into his pocket.
Pulled out a thick envelope.
And placed it on the table.
Victoria frowned.
"What is this?"
Richard answered quietly.
"Your divorce papers."
Then another envelope.
"And criminal complaints."
Victoria's face turned ghost white.
She suddenly realized...
Losing the mansion...
Would be the smallest punishment waiting for her.
May you like
Because someone else had already arrived at the front gate.
Someone carrying a federal badge.
