Chapter 12 - The Locked Nursery
The night before the housewarming, Serena brought Victoria tea.
Victoria pretended to drink it, then poured it into a potted plant after Serena left.
Within twenty minutes, the leaves began curling.
Mara arranged for a private laboratory to collect the cup.
The tea contained a strong prescription sedative.
Not enough to kill Victoria.
Enough to make her confused, sleepy and visibly impaired during the party.
The next morning, Serena entered Victoria’s room and looked surprised to find her awake.
“Didn’t you sleep?”
“Not much.”
Serena glanced at the empty teacup.
Victoria understood.
The plan was no longer only to steal her company.
They intended to display her in front of investors as unstable.
When the ballroom preparations began, Damian told the staff Victoria was feeling unwell.
He instructed them not to allow reporters near her.
At noon, Serena suggested Victoria rest inside the nursery until the ceremony.
“The noise downstairs is too much for the baby.”
Victoria stepped inside.
Serena closed the door behind her.
The lock clicked.
Victoria pulled the handle.
“Serena?”
Her stepmother’s voice came through the door.
“This is for your own good.”
Victoria pounded once.
No answer.
She checked her phone.
No signal.
A newly installed device near the ceiling was blocking cellular reception.
Damian had anticipated every ordinary escape.
But not the necklace.
Victoria activated the pendant and contacted Mara through its private channel.
“They locked me in.”
“I see your location,” Mara replied through the tiny earpiece hidden behind Victoria’s hair. “The old service passage is behind the nursery wardrobe.”
Victoria remembered playing there as a child.
She pushed aside the heavy wardrobe and found a narrow paneled door.
The passage led toward the master bedroom and the ballroom staircase.
As Victoria stepped into the darkness, she heard Damian entering the nursery.
“Where is she?”
Serena’s frightened answer followed.
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“She was here.”
👉 Victoria escaped the room meant to imprison her, but the hidden passage led directly to the bedroom where Damian was waiting with the transfer papers.
