“No.”

Daniel’s answer was immediate.

Rachel’s eyes hardened.

“I am her stepmother.”

“And I’m her father.”

A silence settled between them.

Rachel slowly nodded.

“Fine.”

Daniel looked at the photograph.

“Where did you get that?”

“I was cleaning.”

“Why?”

“Because the house needed organizing.”

“You’ve been moving Claire’s things?”

Rachel’s voice became defensive.

“I’ve been trying to make this house feel like ours.”

“Our?”

“Yes.”

Daniel looked around.

The marble kitchen.

The photographs.

The expensive furniture.

The children’s drawings on the refrigerator.

“This has always been Lily and Owen’s home.”

Rachel’s face changed.

“You married me.”

“I know.”

“And you told me we were building a family.”

“We are.”

“Then why does it feel like I’m constantly being reminded that Claire was here first?”

Daniel didn’t answer immediately.

Because he understood something.

Rachel wasn’t simply jealous.

She was competing with a dead woman.

And she was losing.

“I never asked you to replace Claire.”

Rachel’s eyes filled with tears.

“You didn’t have to.”

She walked away.

Daniel stood there.

Part of him felt guilty.

Rachel had been beside him during Claire’s illness.

She had helped him survive the worst year of his life.

She had loved Lily when Daniel was barely functioning.

Maybe this was grief.

Maybe Rachel felt like she would never truly belong.

But then Lily whispered beside him.

“She scares me.”

Daniel looked down.

“Why?”

“Because she gets nice when you’re here.”

That sentence destroyed every excuse he had left.

Daniel took his daughter upstairs.

He checked her wrist again.

There was a faint bruise.

Small.

But unmistakable.

He photographed it.

Then he photographed the broken bracelet.

The bracelet had not been broken at all.

The clasp was open.

Daniel knew enough about jewelry to see that immediately.

Someone had unclasped it.

Not snapped it.

Not dropped it.

Unclasped it.

And placed it behind the cabinet.

He stared at the tiny piece of gold.

Then he noticed something else.

A thread of pale blue fabric was caught inside the clasp.

Rachel’s sweater was pale blue.

Daniel didn’t say anything.

He simply placed the bracelet into a small evidence bag from his desk drawer.

Then his phone buzzed.

A message from Teresa.

His former nanny.

Daniel opened it.

Mr. Mercer, I need to tell you something about Lily. I should have told you before I left. I am sorry.

He immediately called.

Teresa answered on the second ring.

“Mr. Mercer?”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know how to say this.”

“Just tell me.”

She hesitated.

“Mrs. Mercer asked me to sign something.”

“What?”

“A statement.”

“About what?”

“Lily.”

Daniel’s grip tightened.

“What did it say?”

“That Lily was becoming difficult. That she was aggressive with Owen. That she was having emotional problems.”

Daniel closed his eyes.

“Did you sign?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because it wasn’t true.”

Silence.

Then Teresa whispered:

“She told me if I didn’t sign, I would never work for another family she knew.”

Daniel’s expression hardened.

“Teresa, where are you?”

“At home.”

“I need you to meet me tomorrow.”

“All right.”

“Bring anything she asked you to sign.”

“I will.”

He ended the call.

Lily was watching him.

“Daddy?”

“Yes?”

“Am I in trouble?”

Daniel crouched again.

“No.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck.

Daniel held her tightly.

Then Owen began crying downstairs.

Rachel called out.

“I’ll get him.”

Daniel stood.

“No.”

Rachel stopped.

Daniel looked at her.

“I’ll get my son.”

For the first time, Rachel’s expression showed something beyond hurt.

Fear.

Daniel walked downstairs.

Owen was crying in his crib.

His face was red.

His hands were reaching upward.

Daniel picked him up.

The toddler immediately buried his face against his father’s shoulder.

Rachel stood in the doorway.

“He’s been difficult all afternoon.”

Daniel looked at his son.

Owen was wearing a blue sweater.

There was a red mark around his neck.

“What happened?”

Rachel glanced at it.

“Probably the collar.”

Daniel touched the mark.

It wasn’t from the collar.

The skin was bruised beneath the fabric.

He looked at Rachel.

She saw his expression.

“Daniel—”

He didn’t answer.

He carried Owen upstairs.

Then he looked at both children.

Lily was holding her mother’s bracelet.

Owen was clinging to his father’s shirt.

And Daniel suddenly understood that whatever was happening in his house was bigger than a stepmother struggling to adjust.

Someone had been teaching his children to be afraid.

His phone buzzed again.

This time, the message was from an unknown number.

A photograph appeared.

It showed Lily sitting alone in a dark laundry room.

The timestamp was from two nights earlier.

Underneath it were six words.

SHE DOESN’T TELL YOU EVERYTHING.

Daniel stared at the screen.

Then another message arrived.

YOU SHOULD ASK HER ABOUT THE LOCKED ROOM.

Daniel stared at the photograph until the image blurred.