Chapter 2 - The Cold Attic
I threw my entire body weight against the heavy wooden door.
The solid oak did not even budge.
I screamed for my daughters until my throat burned raw.
Margaret's cruel laughter echoed down the hallway and slowly faded away.
I backed away from the door and looked wildly around the room for a heavy object.
I grabbed a solid brass lamp from the bedside table and smashed it against the window.
The reinforced glass cracked, but it did not shatter.
Suddenly, the lock on the bedroom door clicked loudly.
The door swung open to reveal Richard standing there, flanked by his security team.
He looked at the broken lamp in my hand and told me to put it down.
I dropped the lamp and sobbed that Margaret had taken my children.
Richard shook his head and pulled a small electronic device from his pocket.
He explained that his security team had hacked the estate's internal camera network five minutes ago.
He showed me the glowing screen.
The footage showed Margaret's personal assistant dragging three small, crying girls up a narrow wooden staircase.
They were not sent away.
They were locked in the unheated, unfinished attic above the garage.
I pushed past Richard and ran through the labyrinth of the mansion's corridors.
I found the hidden door leading to the garage attic and tore it open.
The air inside was freezing cold.
My three girls were huddled together in a dark corner, shivering violently.
Olivia was wrapping her small arms around Grace and Lily, trying desperately to keep them warm.
I fell to my knees and gathered all three of them into my arms, weeping into their hair.
Richard appeared in the doorway and silently draped his warm wool coat over my freezing children.
He gently picked up little Lily and told us it was time to leave this hell.
We walked down to the main foyer, where Margaret was screaming into her cell phone.
She was demanding the police come and arrest Richard for trespassing and assault.
Richard casually handed Margaret a folded piece of paper as we walked past her.
Margaret glanced at the document, and her face instantly drained of all color.
She dropped her phone on the floor and backed away from us in absolute terror.
We climbed into Richard's armored SUV, leaving the nightmare behind.
As the car sped away from the estate, Lily reached into her tiny pocket.
She handed me a strange, heavy silver key with a serial number engraved on it.
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She whispered that she had found it hidden under a loose floorboard in the dark attic.
I looked at the key, realizing it bore the exact logo of my late husband's former company.
