013 ~ Buried truth ~

"What are you doing in here?"

Selene forced herself to look at him. "I... came to get some stationery."

Victor glanced at the writing desk before looking back at her. "Stationery?"

"Yes."

His expression didn't change. "You've lived in this estate for five years. Surely you know the servants would have brought you whatever you needed."

The question struck harder than an accusation which made it harder to answer. She had prepared a lie, and didn't expect another question. "I..." Her voice searched her silent mind. "I didn't want to trouble anyone."

Victor raised an eyebrow. "You didn't want to trouble a servant whose only responsibility is to serve you?"

Silence answered him.

Selene searched desperately for another excuse, but every explanation sounded thinner than the last. The room seemed to shrink around her, each passing second tightening like a noose.

Victor watched her without blinking as the corners of his mouth lifted into the faintest smile. "I see."

She lowered her head before he could read the panic in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I should have asked first." She curtsied politely, hoping the conversation had finally reached its end. "If you'll excuse me, I'll leave," turning towards the door.

"Stop!" His voice remained calm, but it carried the weight of a command that had never been ignored.

Selene's feet refused to move as she slowly turned back. Victor was already walking toward her, his steps echoing softly across the polished wooden floor. There was no anger in his eyes, no visible suspicion, yet the closer he came, the louder her heartbeat became.

He stopped only a few inches away but was so close, she could strongly smell the cedarwood on his clothes, close enough that she had to tilt her head slightly just to meet his eyes.

The silence between them was loud, so was her heartbeat.

Victor studied her face with a patience that could snap anytime soon, as though waiting for guilt to reveal itself without him asking another question.

Then, without warning, he stepped around her.

Selene frowned.

Her gaze followed him across the room as he moved, not to his desk, or the fireplace, but to the bookshelf.

Every muscle in her body stiffened as a shaky "No..." Left her lips.

Victor stood before the shelves where the hidden compartment was hidden. His fingers moved slowly over the leather-bound books, brushing each spine with deliberate care.

Selene couldn't tear her eyes away as a thousand thoughts fought for space in her head. Had she returned everything exactly where she'd found it? Had one folder been placed a fraction too far back? Had she forgotten to straighten a single book?

When suddenly, Victor's hand paused.

He tilted his head slightly as a faint wrinkle appeared between his brows. Her stomach dropped as she became certain he had noticed something.

But instead of opening the compartment, he simply continued scanning the shelves before withdrawing his hand altogether. He let out a quiet hum before turning back to her. "You may go."

Relief washed over her so suddenly she nearly lost her balance. "Thank you."

She kept her pace steady as she crossed the room with every instinct urging her to run, but panic would only invite more questions.

As she reached the door and wrapped her fingers around the handle, "Selene." Her hand froze.

Slowly, she looked back to see Victor approaching again. He stopped directly in front of her and this time, there was no distance between them.

Without being told, she stepped back until the door pressed against her shoulders still, Victor leaned closer... So close that she could feel his breath near her ear.

His voice dropped to a whisper as he said, "I know what you did," and the air vanished from her lungs.

Selene could only stare at him as a hundred thoughts collided in her mind— Did he know, had he found the missing document, had he seen her search the hidden compartment?

Fuck! Cameras, why didn't she think of that?

Victor remained close enough for only she could hear him before stepping back to open the door himself. "You should rest," he said, his voice returning to the same pleasant warmth he reserved for guests. "You look exhausted."

To anyone watching, the hand at the small of her back belonged to a caring husband. Only Selene knew it felt more like a warning than a touch. She walked into the corridor without another word as the door closed behind her with a soft click.

She stood there for several seconds, staring at nothing. "I know what you did." The words refused to leave her mind.

Did he know she'd discovered the hidden compartment?

If he did then there was no way he let her go easily. Unless... he wanted her to believe she'd escaped, to make her question her sanity with fear rather than punishment.

A shiver ran through her as realization hit her. She could trust nothing anymore, not even the memories she had spent years trying to bury.

If someone had forged Gareth Hale's testimony, then someone had rewritten the truth itself. And if that truth had been rewritten once...How many other lies had she accepted without question?

Inside the study, Victor didn't leave the door until the sound of Selene's footsteps disappeared into the distance. Only then did he return to the bookshelf.

He pressed open the hidden mechanism as a quiet click echoed through the room

Reaching inside, he removed the leather folder and simply looked at it for a long time.

His thumb brushed across the worn cover before he opened it to the witness statement bearing Gareth Hale's name.

The signature stared back at him... A dangerous piece of history that should never have survived.

Victor walked to the fireplace, where the flames danced quietly, and without hesitation fed the document into the fire.

The paper blackened at the edges before curling inward. Ink dissolved under the heat of the flames until Gareth Hale's signature became glowing ash.

Victor watched every page burn, his eyes cold. Only when the last fragment crumbled into ashes did he speak.

"Some truths," he murmured, his voice slightly lower than the crackling fire, "should stay buried."