“What room moved?”
Liam touched his forehead.
“After the pink medicine.
Victoria said good boys take it and don’t tell because grown-ups need quiet.”
Victoria stepped forward.
“They are confused.
Emily fills their heads with stories.”
Noah lifted his chin.
“Emily told us never to take pills unless Daddy or Doctor Shah said so.”
Richard looked at me.
“What pills?”
I removed my wet cleaning glove and reached into the inner pocket of my uniform.
Victoria watched the movement, and for one second I saw relief cross her face.
She believed I was searching for something that was no longer there.
“The evidence pouch was hidden in my room,” I said.
“I assume Victoria has already taken it.”
Her relief deepened.
Then I pulled out a small brass key.
“But the pouch in my room was a decoy.”
Victoria’s expression collapsed.
I pointed toward the gatehouse.
“Three tablets, photographs of the bottle, my symptom log, and a copy of my email to Doctor Shah are locked in the staff emergency cabinet.
The security supervisor witnessed me seal the envelope yesterday morning.”
Everyone turned toward the senior guard standing beneath the entrance awning.
Mr.
Cole had watched Richard throw me out.
He had said nothing then.
Now shame moved across his face.
“That is true, sir,” he said.
“Miss Carter asked me to sign across the seal.
She said it involved the children’s safety.”
Richard rose slowly.
“You knew?”
“I knew Emily had secured an envelope,” Mr.
Cole answered.
“I did not know what was inside.”
“Bring it.”
Victoria seized Richard’s arm.
“You are humiliating me in front of servants because three difficult children dislike me.”
The word servants landed harder than she intended.
The cook looked down.
The housekeeper’s mouth tightened.
The wedding planners quietly moved away from Victoria as though distance could erase their earlier silence.
Richard removed her hand from his sleeve.
“They are my sons.”
“And they are out of control,” Victoria replied.
“You said that yourself.
You said you could not manage the screaming, the nightmares, the constant interruptions.”
“I said I was tired.”
“You were drowning.”
Her voice rose.
“I was helping you.”
The admission hung between us.
Richard stared at her.
“Helping me how?”
Victoria seemed to hear what she had said only after it was too late.
