“I know him.”

Anna looked at him.

“Who?”

Dominic didn't answer immediately.

His eyes remained fixed on the frozen image.

Then he whispered a name.

“Victor.”

Marco's face changed.

“That's impossible.”

“Why?”

“Victor died four years ago.”

Dominic stared at the screen.

“No.”

His voice was almost inaudible.

“Victor's brother died.”

Marco slowly understood.

“Daniel.”

Dominic nodded.

Daniel Moretti had disappeared four years earlier after his brother Victor's death. Nobody had seen him since.

He had motive.

He had knowledge of the family.

And he knew Dominic's habits better than any employee ever could.

But there was one question.

“Why Ethan?” Anna asked.

Dominic looked at her.

“Because Ethan is my heir.”

The answer landed heavily.

“If Ethan dies,” Dominic continued, “the family fractures.”

“And then?”

“Daniel steps in.”

Anna looked toward Lily.

“So tonight wasn't just an assassination.”

“No.”

Dominic's eyes hardened.

“It was a succession plan.”

Suddenly the lights went out.

Darkness swallowed the security room.

Someone screamed.

A door slammed.

Marco reached for his weapon, but Dominic raised one hand.

“Don't move.”

The emergency lights flickered red.

A figure ran past the hallway.

Marco chased him.

Dominic followed.

Anna stayed with Lily.

Three seconds later, she heard a crash.

Then silence.

Her phone vibrated.

Unknown number.

She didn't answer.

A message appeared.

You understand now.

Another followed.

But you still don't understand who opened the door.

Anna looked toward the security room.

Then toward Dominic's private study.

The killer hadn't escaped.

He was still inside.

She suddenly remembered something Lily had said earlier.

There was a man in the cold room when Mommy was upstairs.

Not before.

Not after.

When Mommy was upstairs.

Anna's eyes widened.

She had been deliberately sent away.

The flooding hadn't been a distraction for Emily.

It had been a distraction for her.

Someone had needed Anna gone because Lily was the only person who could see what was happening.

And now that same person knew Lily remembered.

Anna lifted her daughter.

“Come on.”

She ran.

Not toward the bedroom.

Toward the ballroom.

The place where everything had started.

The ballroom doors stood open.

The ruined birthday cake was still there, sealed behind a temporary evidence barrier.

Anna stopped.

A man stood beside it.

Tall.

Broad.

Dark suit.

Black metal watch.

He turned.

It wasn't Daniel.

It was one of the security officers.

The man smiled.

“You're smarter than they said.”

Anna backed away.

“Where's Lily?”

“Safe.”

“Where's Dominic?”

“Looking for someone who isn't here.”

The man stepped closer.

Anna tightened her grip on Lily.

“You used his study.”

“Yes.”

“His voice.”

“Yes.”

“You wanted him blamed.”

The man smiled.

“Your daughter ruined everything.”

Lily buried her face against Anna.

The man's expression hardened.

Then a voice came from behind him.

“You made one mistake.”

The man froze.

Dominic stood in the doorway.

Bloodless calm.

Marco beside him.

“You assumed I would protect the house before I protected my son.”

The man's hand moved.

Marco was faster.

The confrontation ended almost as quickly as it began.

When the police finally arrived, the estate was no longer silent.

Lights flashed through the windows.

Voices filled the halls.

The birthday cake remained untouched.

Dawn began turning the eastern sky gray.

Ethan came downstairs sometime after seven.

He was pale but smiling.

“Is it over?”

Dominic looked at his son.

“Yes.”

Ethan glanced toward Lily.

“She saved me.”

Dominic nodded.

“She did.”

Ethan walked toward her.

“Thank you.”

Lily looked up.

“You're welcome.”

Then she pointed at the cake.

“Don't eat that one.”

For the first time in years, Dominic laughed.

It wasn't loud.

It wasn't polished.

It was simply a laugh.

Anna looked at him and realized she had never heard that sound from him before.

Dominic noticed her watching.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

He looked at Lily.

Then Ethan.

Then the shattered remains of the birthday cake.

For years, he had believed safety meant controlling every door, every camera, every person who came close to his son.

But control had never saved Ethan.

A child had.

A child who had trusted what she saw when everyone else trusted the system.

Dominic walked toward Anna.

“Thank you.”

Anna shook her head.

“Don't thank me.”

He frowned.

“Why?”

“I didn't save him.”

She looked at Lily.

“She did.”

Dominic nodded.

Then his gaze softened.

“I know.”

Outside, the first sunlight touched the iron gates.

The estate looked different in daylight.

Less like a fortress.

More like a house.

But Anna knew better.

Somewhere inside those walls, secrets still remained.

Somebody had wanted Ethan dead.

Somebody had tried to turn Dominic's own security against him.

And somebody had underestimated the one person in the house nobody considered dangerous.

A three-year-old girl.

Lily looked up at her mother and smiled.

“Mommy?”

“Yes?”

“Can we have cake now?”

Anna laughed despite herself.

Dominic looked toward the ruined birthday cake.

“Not that cake.”

Lily nodded solemnly.

“Good.”

Ethan smiled.

“Can we get chocolate?”

Dominic looked at his son.

“Chocolate sounds safe.”

Lily considered this.

Then she shook her head.

“No.”

Everyone stared at her.

“Why not?”

Lily pointed toward the kitchen.

“Because that man touched it too.”

Silence fell again.

Dominic's smile disappeared.

Marco turned toward the kitchen.

Anna's arms tightened around Lily.

And somewhere beyond the brightening windows, the estate gates remained closed.

Because the night had ended.

But the danger hadn't.

Not completely.

And this time, nobody was going to make the mistake of ignoring the smallest witness in the room.