Chapter 10 - THE LOCKED BEDROOM
Lily called Evelyn from the bathroom and whispered what had happened.
“Leave the house now,” Evelyn said.
Lily tried.
The front doors were locked.
The security code had been changed.
Her car keys were missing.
Richard appeared at the end of the hallway.
“You should be in bed.”
“Give me my medication.”
“Sign the transfer.”
“You’re holding my heart medicine hostage.”
“I am protecting this family from your selfishness.”
Lily activated the recording application inside her pocket.
Richard stepped closer.
“Julian made a mistake. You have spent your entire life being cared for. Now you can care for him.”
“By canceling the surgery?”
“It can be delayed.”
“My doctor said I could die.”
Richard’s face showed no emotion.
“Doctors exaggerate.”
He guided Lily back toward her bedroom.
Not with tenderness.
With control.
He locked the door from the outside.
For six hours, Lily sat on the floor conserving her strength.
She searched the room for anything Richard had missed.
Inside an old sewing basket that belonged to Nora, Lily found a spare house key Grace had once given her.
At dusk, she unlocked the door.
The hallway was empty.
She reached the kitchen and found her medication hidden inside Julian’s wine cabinet.
Her hands were shaking so badly that she dropped the bottle.
As she bent to pick it up, Julian entered.
He closed the kitchen door.
“You should have signed.”
“You stole my medicine.”
“Dad did.”
“You helped him.”
Julian looked away.
For the first time, Lily saw shame.
But it lasted only a second.
“I owe people money,” he said. “You don’t understand what they can do.”
“And you don’t understand what happens if I miss surgery.”
Julian grabbed her wrist.
“You have always been the family tragedy. For once, let me be the one Dad saves.”
Lily pulled away.
Her phone had recorded every word.
Before Julian could take it, she sent the file to Evelyn.
Then the mansion alarm began to sound.
May you like
Richard had discovered her empty bedroom.
👉 Lily had the evidence she needed—but she was still trapped inside the house with two men running out of time.
