Chapter 8 - Someone Was Erasing the Past
The computer screen changed.
FILE DELETION IN PROGRESS.
I had no idea how the hard drive had connected.
Then I saw the small wireless dock beneath Arthur's desk.
The moment I'd stepped close, the drive must have paired with it.
My father's warning flashed through my mind.
Do not connect it to a networked computer.
"Idiot."
I yanked the dock's power cord from the wall.
The screen froze.
Thirty-two percent deleted.
Julian hit the door again.
"What are you doing?"
I looked for somewhere to hide the drive.
Desk drawers.
Bookshelves.
Nothing.
Then I saw the fireplace.
Not for burning it.
Behind the brass screen was a loose stone in the wall.
Old houses had hiding places everywhere.
I wrapped the drive in my torn veil and pushed it behind the stone.
The computer remained frozen.
A file list was still visible.
LAND OPTION 2008.
MEDICAL PETITION DRAFT.
STERLING AUTHORITY.
J.V. INTRODUCTION PLAN.
My blood ran cold.
Introduction plan.
I clicked.
A folder opened.
Inside were three video thumbnails.
Dates from more than a year earlier.
I clicked the earliest.
A grainy security recording appeared.
Arthur's study.
Julian stood near the desk.
Evelyn sat in the leather chair.
Peter Caldwell was beside her.
I stopped breathing.
The timestamp was fourteen months before my wedding.
Three months before my first date with Julian.
Peter placed a file on the desk.
Even without sound, I recognized the photograph on top.
Me.
Julian picked it up.
He studied my face.
Evelyn leaned toward him.
Then the sound came alive.
Peter's voice.
"She's cautious."
Julian smirked.
"Everyone's cautious until they trust the right person."
Evelyn said, "You don't need her to trust you forever."
Peter looked directly at Julian.
"You need her married to you when the authorization is filed."
I gripped the desk.
My knees nearly gave out.
Julian hadn't fallen in love with me.
He'd been assigned to me.
Studied me.
Courted me.
Married me because somebody needed my signature.
The recording continued.
Julian asked, "What happens if she refuses?"
Evelyn's expression barely changed.
"She won't."
Peter said, "And if she does, there are other ways to establish incapacity."
I felt sick.
Julian laughed.
"Like Dad?"
Nobody laughed with him.
That one sentence told me Arthur's medical crisis wasn't separate.
They had already used the same method on him.
The door behind me cracked.
Wood splintered around the lock.
I shut the video.
Julian hit it again.
"Sophia!"
I grabbed the keyboard and searched the folder.
One file was labeled ORIGINAL FOYER BACKUP.
Tonight.
I clicked copy.
The progress bar moved.
Five percent.
Ten.
Julian hit the door.
Mara shouted from the hallway.
"Mr. Vance, stop!"
He cursed at her.
Twenty percent.
I pulled a small USB drive from Arthur's desk drawer.
Thirty percent.
I copied the foyer footage onto it.
Forty-seven percent.
The doorframe cracked.
Fifty-nine.
"Open the damn door!"
Seventy-two.
I looked toward the wall where I'd hidden the main drive.
If Julian broke in, he'd search me first.
Eighty-eight.
Ninety-four.
The door flew inward.
Julian staggered into the study.
I yanked the USB free and shoved it into my bra.
He crossed the room in three strides.
"What did you see?"
I backed away.
"Enough."
His face changed.
"Give me the drive."
"What drive?"
He lunged.
Mara appeared behind him.
"Sir!"
Julian spun.
That second was enough.
I grabbed the black phone from the desk and ran toward the service door beside the bookcase.
Julian caught the back of my wedding dress.
The seam tore.
I fell forward.
My hands hit the carpet.
The hidden phone skidded away.
Julian saw it.
Everything stopped.
He stared at the black device.
Then at me.
"Where did you get that?"
I realized too late that the phone frightened him more than the hard drive.
"Behind the guest suite."
His face went blank.
Mara whispered, "Oh, no."
I looked at her.
She knew.
Julian slowly picked up the phone.
"Mara."
She backed away.
"Don't."
I stared between them.
"Whose phone is it?"
Nobody answered.
I repeated the question.
Mara's eyes filled with fear.
"It belonged to Arthur's nurse."
"What nurse?"
"The one who disappeared two weeks ago."
Julian turned toward her.
"Mara, shut up."
She didn't.
"Her name was Elena Ward."
My heart hammered.
"What happened to her?"
Mara looked at Julian.
"He told everyone she quit."
Julian's face twisted.
"She did."
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Mara whispered, "Then why is her phone hidden inside this house?"
📖 Find out what happened to Arthur's missing nurse—and why her phone contained a recording Julian believed had disappeared with her in CHAPTER 9. 👇
