Cracks Behind the Perfect Family
No one moved.
Vanessa's breathing grew shallow as Nathan continued pointing toward the security camera mounted above the living room. The blinking blue light suddenly felt like the only honest witness inside the mansion.
"What did it record?" Vanessa asked, forcing a shaky smile.
Nathan didn't answer.
Instead, he walked past her toward the wall-mounted control panel beside the fireplace.
"Security keeps recordings for ninety days," he said quietly.
Claire felt her stomach tighten.
Only moments ago, she had believed the nightmare was ending.
Now she wasn't so sure.
Vanessa stepped closer.
"Nathan... please. We don't have to watch it."
His hand stopped halfway to the touchscreen.
"We?"
For the first time since she'd entered his life, Nathan noticed how often Vanessa said we whenever she wanted something—and you whenever something went wrong.
It suddenly bothered him.
A lot.
Ethan folded his arms.
"If she has nothing to hide, why is she scared?"
"I'm not scared," Vanessa snapped.
"You sound terrified."
She glared at the teenager.
"You've always hated me."
"I hated what you were doing to my family."
Claire placed a gentle hand on Ethan's shoulder.
"That's enough."
He nodded, but his eyes never left Vanessa.
Nathan unlocked the security system with his fingerprint.
A list of cameras appeared on the screen.
Front Gate.
Driveway.
Garage.
Living Room.
Dining Hall.
Garden.
He selected the living room recording.
The screen loaded.
Then...
Access Denied.
Nathan frowned.
"That's impossible."
He tried again.
The same message appeared.
Recording unavailable.
Silence settled over the room.
Ethan looked confused.
"What does that mean?"
Nathan's voice hardened.
"It means someone deleted it."
Claire stared at the monitor.
"I thought the system couldn't be erased."
"It can't."
Nathan slowly turned toward the head of household security, Daniel Brooks, who had quietly entered after hearing the commotion.
"Daniel."
"Yes, sir?"
"When was the last system maintenance?"
Daniel hesitated.
"Three days ago."
"Anyone access the recordings?"
"No one should have."
Nathan caught the wording immediately.
"Should have?"
Daniel swallowed.
"There was... one temporary access request."
"From who?"
Daniel looked uncomfortable.
"It came under your authorization code."
Nathan's face darkened.
"I never approved one."
The room became deathly still.
Vanessa's hands trembled.
Claire noticed.
So did Ethan.
Daniel quickly pulled a tablet from his briefcase.
"I printed the access log this morning because something felt unusual."
Nathan took it.
His eyes scanned the page.
Someone had entered the surveillance system two nights earlier.
Using his credentials.
At 2:17 a.m.
He looked up slowly.
"I was in Chicago."
Claire answered before anyone else.
"You were. I remember because Ethan and I drove you to the airport."
Nathan nodded.
"So someone cloned my security credentials."
Daniel's expression became grim.
"Only a person inside this house could have done that."
Every servant standing nearby instinctively exchanged nervous glances.
Vanessa forced a laugh.
"So now we're accusing the staff?"
"No," Ethan replied.
"We're accusing whoever needed that video gone."
Vanessa looked directly at him.
"You think that's me?"
"I think you're desperate."
Nathan continued studying the access log.
One detail caught his attention.
The system showed the login location.
It wasn't from the security office.
It came from...
The east wing.
Guest Suite Four.
Vanessa's room.
His heartbeat slowed instead of quickening.
The calm frightened Claire more than anger ever could.
Nathan folded the paper carefully.
"Tell me why someone logged into my security system from your room."
Vanessa's lips parted.
"I don't know anything about computers."
"You didn't answer my question."
"I said I don't know!"
She stepped backward.
Another step.
Another.
Until her back touched the grand staircase.
For a second, she looked less like a manipulative woman and more like someone running out of exits.
Then her phone vibrated.
Everyone heard it.
She instinctively looked down.
Ethan noticed her expression change before she locked the screen.
"What was that?" he asked.
"Nothing."
Nathan held out his hand.
"Give me the phone."
"No."
"Vanessa."
"It's private."
Nathan almost laughed.
Private.
After everything that had happened, privacy suddenly mattered.
"Give me the phone."
She hugged it against her chest.
"You don't trust me?"
The question lingered in the air.
Nathan looked at Claire.
Then at Ethan.
Then back at Vanessa.
Finally, he answered with brutal honesty.
"I don't know if I ever did."
Tears filled Vanessa's eyes.
Some looked real.
Some didn't.
She slowly handed him the phone.
Nathan unlocked it using the facial recognition she had once playfully registered with him months earlier.
The screen lit up immediately.
A new message waited at the top.
Unknown Number:
"Did you erase the footage before he found out?"
Nathan's breathing stopped.
Claire stared at the message.
Ethan whispered, "She wasn't working alone."
Vanessa lunged forward.
"It's not what it looks like!"
Nathan took one slow step away from her.
For the first time, he wasn't looking at the woman who claimed to love him.
May you like
He was looking at a stranger.
And somewhere beyond the mansion walls, another person had just become part of the conspiracy.
