Chapter 3 - Whispers in the Servants' Quarters
Inside the sprawling mansion, the illusion of normal life resumed under a heavy, suffocating cloud of tension. Victoria glided down the grand staircase in a silk robe, sipping black coffee while pretending to recover from the night's harrowing ordeal. However, behind closed doors in the staff wing, the atmosphere was entirely different. Marcus, the head gardener and one of the longest-serving employees, gathered the remaining domestic staff in the dimly lit pantry. Whispers filled the small room as Maria, the cook, voiced what everyone was thinking: Elena was gentle, deeply attached to the baby, and incapable of such cruelty. Marcus warned everyone to keep their voices down, revealing that he had noticed strange discrepancies in the estate's internal security logs over the past few weeks, including unauthorized deletions from the cloud storage. They all knew Victoria had a volatile temper and a history of sweeping scandals under the rug with her family’s immense wealth and legal influence. As they debated whether to risk their own livelihoods to help Elena, a sharp knock on the pantry door made every heart skip a beat. It was Mrs. Gable, the strict housekeeper loyal only to Victoria, standing in the doorway with a chilling smile that suggested she had heard every single word.
