Chapter 3: The Journal Nobody Was Supposed to Find
The next morning, the mansion looked completely different.
Without music.
Without guests.
Without expensive cars lining the driveway.
It was just a building.
And somehow, that made it more frightening.
Richard sat across from me in a small office near the gardens.
The same room where employees were apparently supposed to solve problems quietly.
Except problems had never been solved.
They had been buried.
"You don't have to continue," Richard said.
I looked down at Emma's journal.
"Yes, I do.""
He studied me.
"Why?""
Because I remembered her last message.
Because someone had to care.
Because people like Emma disappeared when everyone decided silence was easier.
"I need to know what happened to her.""
Richard nodded.
"Then we start with the journal.""
For the next hour, we went through every page.
Emma had documented everything.
A worker fired after complaining about unpaid overtime.
A housekeeper threatened after refusing inappropriate requests from guests.
Servers forced to apologize for things they didn't do.
And always the same pattern.
Victor protected the guests.
Never the employees.
"He knew," I whispered.
Richard looked at me.
"Who?""
"Victor. He knew exactly what he was doing.""
A knock interrupted us.
The door opened.
Victor stood there.
His expression was calm again.
Too calm.
"Mr. Ashford.""
Richard closed the journal.
"Victor.""
"I would like to explain.""
"No.""
Victor blinked.
"No?""
"You had years to explain.""
His jaw tightened.
"I managed this property successfully.""
Richard looked at him.
"At what cost?""
Victor ignored me.
"Claire is an outsider. She doesn't understand the pressure we deal with.""
I looked at him.
"The pressure of protecting wealthy people while hurting everyone else?""
His eyes narrowed.
"You should be careful.""
There it was.
The same warning.
The same message.
Know your place.
Richard stood.
"Are you threatening her?""
Victor smiled.
"Of course not.""
But his eyes said something else.
After he left, I looked at Richard.
"He is hiding something.""
Richard nodded.
"I know.""
That afternoon, something unexpected happened.
Daniel found me near the kitchen.
He looked nervous.
"Claire.""
I turned.
"What happened?""
He looked around before speaking.
"I know who you are.""
My heart raced.
"What?""
"I saw the news about Emma's uncle arriving.""
I stayed quiet.
Daniel continued.
"You came here because of her.""
I didn't deny it.
"Why are you telling me this?""
He reached into his pocket.
Then handed me a small flash drive.
"Emma gave me this.""
I stared at it.
"When?""
"Two days before she disappeared.""
My fingers tightened around the drive.
"Why didn't you give it to Richard?""
Daniel looked away.
"Because Victor found out she was collecting evidence.""
My blood ran cold.
"What happened?""
Daniel swallowed.
"She told me if anything happened to her, I should wait until someone trustworthy came.""
I looked at the flash drive.
"Why me?""
Daniel gave a sad smile.
"Because Emma said people who cared about the truth always looked uncomfortable when everyone else was pretending.""
That night, I opened the files.
There were videos.
Documents.
Photos.
And one recording.
Emma's voice filled the room.
"If someone is hearing this, it means I wasn't able to finish what I started.""
I covered my mouth.
Her voice continued.
"Victor isn't the only problem.""
I froze.
Not the only problem?
The recording crackled.
"There is someone above him.""
A pause.
Then Emma whispered:
"Someone in the family.""
The audio ended.
I stared at the screen.
Richard was not the only person with a connection to the mansion.
Someone else had been controlling everything.
And then my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
I opened it.
And my hands went cold.
May you like
The message contained only five words.
"You should have left already.""
