Chapter 9
I checked the camera system.
The laundry room camera had been disabled.
Only that one.
For six weeks.
My security chief looked ashamed.
“Mr. Elias said privacy.”
I stared.
“Laundry needs privacy?”
“He said family corrections should not become staff gossip.”
There it was.
Hide the room.
Hide the method.
Call secrecy dignity.
The camera outside the hallway still worked.
It showed enough.
Noah entering repeatedly with Agatha.
Tyler sometimes following.
Rowan waiting.
Elias leaving just before.
Patterns matter.
One clip showed Noah coming out crying while Tyler carried two dinner rolls.
Another showed Agatha taking Noah’s plate into the laundry room.
Another showed Rowan stopping a maid who tried to follow.
No direct footage of abuse.
Enough context to know this was system, not accident.
I looked at my security chief.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
He swallowed.
“Your father said you approved.”
Of course.
My name again.
The most efficient weapon in the estate.
I changed one rule that day.
Any instruction involving Noah required direct confirmation from me or my designated guardian.
No “Bianca said.”
No “Elias knows.”
No family shortcuts.
If verification felt insulting, verify anyway.
May you like
People who rely on implied authority hate direct questions.
That was exactly why we needed more of them.
