Chapter 6 - The Housekeeper’s ConfessionThe heavy silence in the study felt thick enough to suffocate. Mrs. Gable stood trembling by the mahogany desk, her wrinkled hands gripping the fabric of her apron as Daniel loomed over her, his grey eyes burning with cold, relentless interrogation.
“Mr. Harrington, please... you must believe me,” Mrs. Gable whispered, a tear finally spilling over her lashes. “I didn't know she was down there. Not for five years, anyway.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened. He took a sharp step closer. “What do you mean, not for five years? Who put her there, Mrs. Gable? Who built that secondary lock?”
The elderly housekeeper let out a ragged, broken sigh, her shoulders slumping as if a crushing weight had finally broken her spirit.
“It was Victor Vance’s son—Clara’s uncle, Richard Vance,” Mrs. Gable confessed, her voice dropping to a frightened murmur. “When Victor died, Richard inherited the estate on paper, but he was drowning in massive gambling debts. Clara discovered he was embezzling from her grandfather’s trust fund. She threatened to go to the authorities.”
Daniel listened, his blood running cold. “And Richard locked her away?”
“He told me she had run off to Europe,” Mrs. Gable wept softly. “He paid me a fortune to keep the east wing quiet, to never look beneath the hallway carpets, and to stay away from the main floor at night. When Richard sold this estate to you years later, he swore he had relocated her to a private clinic in Switzerland. I... I was a coward, Mr. Harrington. I needed the job, and I stayed silent.”
May you like
Before Daniel could respond, a sharp, piercing shriek echoed from the second-floor hallway.
It was Lily.
Related Stories
