Chapter 3: The Woman in the Recording
Lena watched the footage again.
And again.
And again.
Each time, the same impossible image appeared.
Her face.
Her uniform.
Her hands carrying the tray.
Only it wasn’t her.
“I didn’t do that,” Lena whispered.
Nobody answered.
That was the worst part.
The silence.
If Victor had shouted, if Dmitri had accused her, if someone had pointed a gun at her, at least she would know what she was facing.
But they were watching her.
Measuring her.
Deciding.
Victor stopped the video.
“Where were you twenty minutes before the dinner?””
“In the east service corridor.””
“With the champagne?””
“No.””
“Then where?””
Lena looked at him.
“Cleaning table twelve.””
Dmitri crossed his arms.
“Convenient.””
She turned toward him.
“I saved his life.””
“And maybe you saved it because you needed him alive.””
The accusation hurt because it was exactly what everyone would believe.
She was a poor maid.
He was Victor Romano.
Nobody would believe the poor girl before the powerful man.
Lena looked back at Victor.
“You think I poisoned you?””
Victor studied her.
“I think someone wants me to think that.””
The answer surprised everyone.
Dmitri frowned.
“Boss—”
“No.””
Victor walked to the screen.
“The footage is too perfect.””
Lena blinked.
“What?””
“Someone wants the evidence to point at her.””
He looked at the frozen image.
“At someone nobody would defend.””
The words settled heavily.
Lena realized what he meant.
A maid.
A nobody.
A person without money.
Without connections.
Without protection.
Someone easy to sacrifice.
Victor picked up his phone.
“Find Leon.””
Dmitri nodded.
“He disappeared.””
Victor’s eyes darkened.
“Of course he did.””
Lena watched him carefully.
“You really trusted him?””
Victor didn’t answer immediately.
Then he said:
“Twenty years.””
The room went quiet.
“Twenty years,” he repeated.
“He was there when I had nothing.””
Lena lowered her eyes.
She knew that kind of loyalty.
Or at least she thought she did.
Her father had trusted people too.
That was how their family lost everything.
A memory flashed.
Her father sitting at their kitchen table.
A folder open.
A worried expression.
Someone’s name written on a document.
Lena had been too young to understand.
But she remembered one thing.
Her father had said:
“If anything happens to me, never trust a man who smiles while he destroys you.””
She had forgotten the words.
Until now.
Victor noticed her expression.
“What is it?””
“Nothing.””
“That wasn’t nothing.””
Lena looked away.
“I remembered something.””
“About your father?””
She froze.
“How did you know?””
Victor’s face remained calm.
“Because you said his name differently than you say anyone else’s.””
Lena stared.
The man everyone called a monster had noticed a tiny change in her voice.
“My father knew something,” she admitted.
“About what?””
“I don’t know.””
“Try.””
She closed her eyes.
“He had documents. He was afraid of someone.””
“Who?””
“I don’t remember.””
Victor moved closer.
“Lena.””
Something about his voice made her open her eyes.
Not a command.
A request.
She hated that it worked.
“There was a symbol,” she said.
“What symbol?””
“A black crown.””
Victor went completely still.
Dmitri noticed.
“Boss?””
Victor looked at him.
“Leave us.””
Dmitri hesitated.
Then walked out.
Lena felt a strange fear.
“What does that mean?””
Victor did not answer.
Instead, he opened a drawer.
From inside, he removed a small black envelope.
He placed it on the desk.
On the front was a symbol.
A black crown.
Lena stopped breathing.
“I found this in Leon’s office tonight.””
The room spun.
Victor looked at her.
“The person who poisoned me wasn’t just trying to take my life.””
He opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
A photograph of Lena’s father.
Alive.
Standing beside Leon Mercer.
May you like
And written on the back were six words:
*The daughter is the final key.*
