Chapter 8 - The Thread of Deception
Julian sat back on his heels, his brows drawing together in deep confusion. "The estate staff? They wouldn't touch Chloe. They know how much she means to me."
"It wasn't staff, Julian," Maya said coldly, her voice dropping into a razor-sharp whisper. "I checked the security monitor in the hallway right after I washed the mud off Chloe. The feed from the west corridor during the party... it was manually wiped."
Julian’s eyes widened slightly. "Wiped? Only three people have the administrative clearance to override the main security servers. Me, my mother..."
"...and your brother, Arthur," Maya finished his sentence.
The room went completely still. The silence stretched between them, thick and heavy with unspoken horror.
Arthur Vance, Julian’s older brother by two years, was the quiet ghost of the family estate. Soft-spoken, brilliant, and perpetually overlooked by Victoria in favor of Julian, Arthur managed the family’s private security infrastructure and technological holdings. He was a man who lived in the shadows of the mansion, rarely attending parties, rarely speaking unless spoken to.
"Arthur wouldn't do that," Julian said, though his voice lacked conviction, trembling slightly under the weight of the suspicion. "He loves Chloe. He bought her that wooden rocking horse for her birthday."
"Arthur does whatever your mother tells him to do," Maya replied ruthlessly. "He has spent his whole life trying to earn her approval. If Victoria asked him to create a distraction and disable the cameras so she could humiliate me and my daughter... do you really think he would say no?"
Julian stood up slowly, running both hands through his hair as he paced toward the nursery window overlooking the dark gardens below. He stared out into the night, watching the distant security guards patrol the perimeter fences.
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"I'll talk to him," Julian said, his jaw tightening. "If Arthur had a hand in this... I'll destroy him myself."
"No," Maya said firmly, standing up from the rocking chair while carefully holding the sleeping child. She laid Chloe down into her wooden crib, pulling the blanket up to her chin before turning back to face her husband. "Don't talk to him. If you confront him now without proof, he'll scrub whatever digital footprints are left. We need to find out what Victoria promised him in exchange for helping her."
