Chapter 2 - THE EASTER HOUSE
The security team separated everyone.
No one was allowed to leave with documents, phones, or bags until the first review was complete.
Lenora demanded the estate attorney.
Cassandra demanded the county sheriff.
Sarah asked for a doctor.
Lily’s elbow was bruised.
Her wrist hurt when she moved it.
A paramedic examined her in the drawing room while Sarah sat beside her.
“You pressed Bunny,” Lily whispered.
“Yes.”
“Daddy said only if the bad room happens.”
Sarah looked toward the hallway.
The bad room.
That was what Lily called the formal dining room.
Her father, Andrew Hale, had sewn the emergency transmitter into the stuffed rabbit six months before his death.
At the time, Sarah thought he was being paranoid.
Andrew was Lenora’s youngest son.
Cassandra’s younger brother.
The only Hale who had ever openly challenged the family.
He died in a private plane crash fourteen months earlier.
The investigators blamed mechanical failure.
Lenora blamed Sarah.
She said Andrew became reckless after marriage.
Cassandra said Sarah distracted him from his responsibilities.
The family board removed Sarah from company meetings within a week of the funeral.
Her accounts were frozen.
Her access to the estate was restricted.
Yet every holiday invitation continued to arrive.
Lenora insisted Lily remain connected to “her real family.”
Sarah attended because Andrew had asked her not to isolate their daughter from his relatives.
She had obeyed longer than she should have.
The lead security officer entered.
His name was Marcus Reed.
Sarah recognized him from Andrew’s funeral.
He placed Lily’s stuffed bunny on the table.
“The signal worked exactly as designed.”
“Who receives it?”
“A private protection unit.”
“Paid by whom?”
Marcus hesitated.
“The answer is inside the envelope.”
Sarah gripped her purse.
Andrew had given her the sealed envelope one week before the crash.
Do not open this unless Bunny activates.
She had carried it every time she entered the estate.
For fourteen months.
Lenora appeared in the doorway before Sarah could remove it.
“You have no right to occupy this room.”
Marcus stepped between them.
“Mrs. Hale, return to the dining room.”
“I own this estate.”
“No,” Sarah said quietly.
Lenora looked at her.
Sarah had not intended to speak.
But the sealed envelope felt heavier now.
Lenora’s voice lowered.
“What did Andrew tell you?”
“Not enough.”
“He always confused secrecy with intelligence.”
“And you confused control with love.”
Lenora’s expression hardened.
“You think one childish device gives you power?”
May you like
Sarah looked down at Lily’s bruised arm.
“No. You gave me power when you touched my daughter in front of witnesses.”
