Chapter 2: The Person Behind the Door
“The person who hired me is standing in this room.””
Nobody breathed.
For one long second, the only sound was the faint ticking of the grandfather clock near the staircase.
Then Vivian laughed.
It was a sharp, brittle sound.
“You're insane.””
Daniel didn't look at her.
Alexander did.
“Who hired you?””
Daniel's eyes moved slowly across the room.
Past the guests.
Past the security team.
Past the staff.
Until they stopped on me.
My stomach dropped.
“No,” I said.
Daniel nodded once.
“Exactly.””
Alexander turned toward me.
“What does that mean?””
I shook my head.
“I don't know him.””
Daniel's expression hardened.
“You don't know me?””
“I've never spoken to you before this morning.””
“That's not what I asked.””
The room seemed to shrink around us.
Vivian stepped between Daniel and me.
“Alexander, he's manipulating you.””
Daniel gave a humorless smile.
“Am I?””
He pulled another photograph from the briefcase.
Then he held it up.
My blood ran cold.
It was me.
Standing outside the Hawthorne estate.
At the garden gate.
Three days earlier.
I was carrying a tray of seedlings.
It looked ordinary.
Except the photograph had been taken from across the road.
Someone had been watching me.
Alexander took it.
“Why were you photographed?””
“I don't know.””
Daniel reached for another picture.
“This one was taken yesterday.””
It showed me entering the service entrance.
Another showed me speaking with the kitchen manager.
Another showed me walking through the rose garden.
My hands began to shake.
“Who took these?””
Daniel closed the folder.
“The people who were following you.””
“Why?””
“Because they thought you were going to discover something.””
Vivian's voice cut through the room.
“Enough.””
Daniel finally looked at her.
“You should be thanking me.””
“For what?””
“For making sure he survived long enough to hear the truth.””
Alexander looked at me.
“What did you discover?””
I swallowed.
“I don't know.””
“You said you saw Vivian meeting him.””
“Yes.””
“What else?””
I hesitated.
The memory came back with uncomfortable clarity.
The morning sun.
The smell of wet soil.
Vivian standing beside the greenhouse.
Daniel beside the black SUV.
And something else.
A third person.
“I saw someone else,” I said.
Daniel went still.
Vivian's face changed.
Alexander noticed both reactions.
“Who?””
“I couldn't see his face.””
“Man or woman?””
“Man.””
“What was he wearing?””
“A gray suit.””
Daniel slowly lowered his gaze.
Alexander's voice sharpened.
“Daniel.””
“I didn't send anyone.””
Vivian whispered, “You're lying.””
Daniel ignored her.
“Describe him.””
I closed my eyes, trying to remember.
“He was tall. Maybe six feet. Dark hair. He was carrying a folder.””
“What kind of folder?””
“Black.””
Daniel looked toward the security chief.
“Check the cameras around the east greenhouse.””
The guard hesitated.
“Sir?””
“Now.””
He pulled out his radio.
“Pull exterior footage from seven-thirty to nine this morning.””
Vivian moved toward the staircase.
Alexander noticed.
“Where are you going?””
She stopped.
“I need the restroom.””
“No.””
Her eyes widened.
“What?””
“You stay here.””
The color drained from her face.
“Alexander, this is humiliating.””
“You've already poisoned my drink, hidden meetings with another man, and apparently lied about a man carrying documents onto my property.””
“I didn't poison you.””
“Then what was in the pitcher?””
“I don't know.””
“You put it there.””
“I said I don't know!””
The shout echoed through the reception room.
Alexander stared at her.
Then Daniel said quietly,
“She knew exactly what it was.””
Vivian turned.
“You don't know anything about me.””
“I know what you bought.””
She froze.
Daniel reached into his briefcase.
He placed a receipt on the table.
Pharmacy.
Two weeks earlier.
A chemical name was printed across the bottom.
Alexander picked it up.
“What is this?””
Daniel answered, “A compound that can cause severe cardiac symptoms.””
I felt sick.
Vivian shook her head.
“That doesn't prove anything.””
Daniel looked at her.
“You ordered it under a false name.””
“I didn't.””
“You paid cash.””
“No.””
“You collected it yourself.””
Vivian's eyes flashed toward me.
Then Alexander saw it.
“Why are you looking at him?””
She said nothing.
Alexander stepped closer.
“Answer me.””
Vivian backed away.
“I was trying to protect us.””
“From what?””
“From you.””
The room fell silent.
Alexander stared at her.
“What did you just say?””
Vivian's voice trembled.
“You think everything is yours because you built it.””
His expression hardened.
“My company? My house? My money?””
“Our life.””
She pressed a hand against her chest.
“You never saw me.””
Alexander looked genuinely stunned.
“You're talking about killing me because I didn't pay enough attention to you?””
“I never said that.””
Daniel spoke.
“You didn't have to.””
Vivian spun toward him.
“Shut up!””
Alexander's eyes narrowed.
“What were you planning to do?””
Vivian didn't answer.
Daniel did.
“Wait until the medicine took effect.””
A murmur passed through the guests.
Alexander looked at the glass on the table.
“Then what?””
Daniel's expression was grim.
“She was going to call your doctor and tell him you'd suffered a sudden cardiac event.””
Vivian's knees nearly buckled.
“That wasn't the plan.””
Alexander turned slowly.
“There was a plan?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“No.””
“You just said there was.””
“I meant—”
“Stop.””
The word was quiet.
It silenced her immediately.
Alexander walked toward the pitcher.
He stopped beside it.
“You wanted me dead.””
Vivian shook her head.
“No.””
“You put something in my drink.””
“No.””
“You refused to drink it.””
“I was scared.””
“Of what?””
Vivian opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Alexander looked toward Daniel.
“You said someone else was involved.””
“I said someone hired me.””
“Who?””
Daniel glanced at Vivian.
“She wasn't the one who hired me.””
Alexander frowned.
“What?””
Daniel reached into the briefcase and removed a sealed envelope.
“This was delivered to me two nights ago.””
He placed it on the table.
The envelope was cream-colored.
There was no name on the front.
Alexander opened it.
Inside was a handwritten note.
He read it once.
Then again.
His face became unreadable.
“What does it say?”” I asked.
Alexander didn't answer.
Daniel did.
“It says, Stop Vivian before she gets the inheritance.”
Vivian's head snapped up.
Daniel continued.
“The message came with a photograph of her entering a private clinic.””
Alexander looked at her.
“Inheritance?””
Vivian whispered, “Alexander…”
He held up a hand.
“No.””
His voice was shaking now.
“Don't explain anything yet.””
The security chief suddenly approached.
“Sir.””
Alexander turned.
“We checked the camera feed.””
“And?””
The man hesitated.
“There are no recordings from the east greenhouse.””
Alexander frowned.
“Why?””
“They were deleted.””
“By whom?””
“We're checking.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“Check the control room logs.””
The security chief nodded.
Then his radio crackled.
He listened for several seconds.
His expression changed.
“Sir…”
“What?””
“There's an access record.””
“For the deleted footage?””
“Yes.””
“Whose?””
The guard looked down at the device.
Then up at Alexander.
“It was your account.””
The room erupted.
“I didn't access it,” Alexander said.
The guard swallowed.
“The system shows your authorization.””
Alexander turned toward Vivian.
She was crying now.
But Daniel wasn't looking at her.
He was looking at me.
I didn't understand why until he said,
“There is one more thing.””
He stepped toward me.
“You said you saw someone in a gray suit.””
“Yes.””
“Did he have a watch?””
I tried to remember.
“Yes.””
“Which wrist?””
“His left.””
Daniel's face went pale.
Alexander noticed.
“What?””
Daniel didn't answer.
He walked to the nearest window.
Then he looked back into the reception room.
Everyone followed his gaze.
The man standing near the fireplace had not said a single word since the confrontation began.
Gray suit.
Dark hair.
Tall.
A black folder tucked beneath his arm.
And a silver watch on his left wrist.
My heart stopped.
I pointed at him.
“That’s him.””
The man slowly raised his head.
For the first time, I saw his face.
Alexander whispered his name.
May you like
“Richard…”
And Richard smiled.
