Chapter 9 - The Missing Page
Daniel slipped the papers into his jacket and stood between the bed and the door. “Not tonight.”
Sloane opened it anyway. Her eyes went straight to the book in Oliver’s hands.
“There it is,” she said.
Oliver flinched.
Daniel’s voice hardened. “What are you looking for?”
“Nothing. I’m checking on him.”
“You just said you wanted to talk about his future. Now you’re looking at his book.”
Sloane put on a concerned face. “He’s hiding things. That’s a sign he needs more help than you realize.”
“He’s seven. He hid a book because he was scared.”
“Of me, apparently. That’s a serious accusation.”
“It’s a fact.”
She looked at Rosa. “You’ve filled his head with stories. I should have known you would take advantage of a grieving child.”
Rosa stood. “I’ve cared for Oliver since birth. I’ve never asked him to choose between the people he loves.”
“And you’re a housekeeper, not his mother.”
“No,” Rosa replied. “I’m the person who heard him crying when you left him locked in the sunroom.”
Sloane’s expression sharpened. “You’re fired.”
“Not until I say so,” Daniel said.
He called the house manager to preserve every remaining security recording.
“The cameras don’t record inside private rooms.”
“I’m interested in the hallway and the sunroom door.”
“You won’t find anything.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about.”
For the first time, she looked genuinely afraid. It vanished quickly, replaced by anger.
“You think a few old invoices and a child’s storybook can destroy me? I built the foundation’s new donor network. I saved it while you were drowning in your wife’s death.”
“You used my wife’s name to move money.”
“I moved money to keep the foundation alive.”
“Then you can explain every dollar to the auditors.”
Sloane turned toward Oliver. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”
Daniel stepped forward. “Do not speak to him.”
She left, slamming the door so hard a framed photograph rattled against the wall.
Oliver cried but stayed beside Daniel. Rosa brought water and a clean shirt.
An hour later, the house manager called back. Most of the hallway footage had been overwritten by the system’s automatic cycle.
Most—but not all.
May you like
One clip remained from the night Oliver had been locked in the sunroom. The camera showed Sloane walking away from the closed door while Oliver pounded on it from inside.
Then she stopped, turned toward the camera, and smiled.
