Chapter 6 - The Locked Nursery.
Ethan closed the blue ledger and handed it to Mrs. Bell.
"Put this somewhere Celeste cannot reach."
Celeste gave a short, bitter laugh.
"Listen to yourself."
"You are hiding household books from your own sister because a frightened maid told you a story."
Mara's face tightened.
"I told him what I saw."
Celeste turned toward her.
"And now you have convinced him that everyone who questions you is dangerous."
Ethan stepped between them.
"You are not speaking to her again today."
Celeste's eyes flashed.
"In my mother's house?"
"In my daughter's home."
The words landed harder than he expected.
Celeste looked toward Lily, and for a second something darker than anger passed across her face.
Then she walked out of the breakfast room without another word.
Ethan spent the next hour calling the bank, the family accountant, and an outside attorney who had never worked for Harrington Holdings.
He ordered a temporary freeze on any property transfer requiring his approval.
He also instructed household security that Celeste no longer had authority to search staff rooms or remove records.
At ten fifteen, Mara came downstairs alone.
"Lily is asleep."
"How is she?"
"Better, but she keeps asking whether the piano is angry with her."
Ethan closed his eyes briefly.
"I should have seen what was happening here."
Mara shook her head.
"You saw what people allowed you to see."
The answer did not comfort him.
"How long has Celeste treated Lily like this?"
Mara hesitated.
"She never pushed her before today."
"But she has been cruel in quieter ways."
Ethan waited.
"She removes Lily's toys from the formal rooms."
"She tells her not to call this place home when guests are here."
"Last week she told Lily that children who break family rules get sent away."
Ethan's hands curled around the edge of his desk.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I tried twice."
Mara looked embarrassed.
"Your assistant forwarded both messages to the house office because they were labeled domestic concerns."
Ethan knew who supervised the house office.
Celeste.
Before he could respond, an alarm sounded upstairs.
It was not the main security alarm.
It was Lily's nursery door sensor.
Mara ran first.
Ethan followed.
They reached the second floor and found the nursery door locked from the outside.
Lily was awake inside, crying and calling for Mara.
Mara pulled at the handle.
"This door never locks from the hall."
Mrs. Bell hurried up the stairs with the ring of keys.
Ethan took them and tried two before finding the correct one.
The door opened.
Lily rushed into his legs.
"Daddy!"
He lifted her immediately.
The room looked normal at first.
Then Mara noticed her dresser drawer standing open.
Inside, resting on top of folded uniforms, was a sapphire brooch surrounded by diamonds.
Mara stared at it in horror.
"That is not mine."
Ethan did not touch it.
He photographed the drawer exactly as it was.
"No one is accusing you."
Mrs. Bell covered her mouth.
"That was Mrs. Harrington's."
A movement in the corridor caught Ethan's attention.
Celeste stood at the far end near the stairs.
"Well," she said softly.
"It seems the missing property has found its way home."
Ethan looked at the locked nursery door, then at the brooch, then at his sister.
"Who locked this door?"
Celeste shrugged.
"Perhaps the maid did it herself to create drama."
Lily suddenly lifted her head from Ethan's shoulder.
"Blue dress came in."
Every adult went silent.
Celeste's face hardened.
"Lily, no."
The child pointed toward her.
"Blue dress put sparkly in Mara's drawer."
Mara began to cry without making a sound.
Ethan's expression became unreadable.
He did not treat a three-year-old's words as proof.
He did something Celeste clearly had not expected.
He called the security office and asked for every corridor camera recording from the previous hour.
Celeste's posture changed.
"You don't need to do that."
Ethan looked at her.
"I think I do."
Five minutes later, the security supervisor called back.
The camera outside Mara's room showed Celeste entering with the sapphire brooch in her hand.
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But the nursery camera had been manually disabled two minutes before Lily's door was locked.
And the only person whose code had been used was Celeste Harrington.
