5 Chapter 1 A Billionaire’s Daughter Called for Help—Then Saw Her Stepmother Behind the Crime
Chapter 1: The Woman on the Screen
“The little girl hid under the piano… and called her billionaire father.”
“Daddy… they’re stealing everything.”
Emma whispered from beneath the black grand piano while thunder shook the mansion windows.
Her father stayed silent on the phone.
Outside the music room, men dragged paintings across the marble floor.
One voice snapped, “Find the girl before he gets here.”
Emma covered her mouth.
Then her father spoke softly.
“Press the lowest piano key three times.”
Emma obeyed.
A hidden camera screen lit beneath the piano.
And the first face on the screen was her stepmother.
Emma stared at the glowing screen beneath the piano.
Her tiny hands trembled.
The first face she saw was not one of the thieves.
It was her stepmother.
Victoria.
The elegant woman smiled into the hidden camera as if she were attending a dinner party rather than overseeing a robbery.
Emma's heart stopped.
"No..." she whispered.
The screen showed Victoria standing in the mansion's security room. Several monitors displayed every corner of the house. Around her stood armed men dressed in black.
One of them asked, "What if the girl escaped?"
Victoria's expression hardened.
"She won't."
Emma felt sick.
For two years Victoria had acted like the perfect stepmother. She bought Emma dresses. She attended school events. She kissed her forehead every night.
And now she was helping the criminals.
The phone pressed against Emma's ear crackled softly.
Her father's voice remained calm.
"Emma."
"Daddy..."
"Listen carefully."
"T-They're all working for Victoria."
"I know."
Emma blinked.
"You know?"
"Yes."
Outside the music room, footsteps echoed.
Someone was getting closer.
Emma held her breath.
Her father continued speaking in a voice so steady that it almost felt unreal.
"I've known for months."
Emma couldn't understand.
"If you knew, why didn't you stop her?"
A painful silence followed.
Then he answered.
"Because I needed to know who she was working for."
Thunder exploded outside.
Rain slammed against the mansion windows.
Emma heard a door crash open somewhere upstairs.
The thieves were becoming desperate.
"Daddy, I'm scared."
"I know, sweetheart."
His voice softened.
"But I need you to be brave for five more minutes."
Emma swallowed hard.
"Can you do that?"
"Yes."
"Good girl."
The hidden screen suddenly changed.
Now it displayed a blueprint of the mansion.
A red dot blinked beneath the piano.
That was her.
Several blue dots moved through the hallways.
The intruders.
Then three green dots appeared outside the property.
Rapidly approaching.
Emma frowned.
"What are the green dots?"
Her father's answer chilled her.
"My team."
Before she could ask another question, a man's voice thundered from outside the music room.
"Search in there!"
The doorknob rattled.
Emma froze.
Someone was entering.
The massive wooden door slowly opened.
Heavy boots stepped across the marble floor.
One pair.
Then another.
Emma squeezed her eyes shut.
The men walked deeper into the room.
One of them laughed.
"Rich people always have ridiculous houses."
"Stop talking and find the kid."
Emma pressed herself against the piano.
The screen continued glowing beside her.
A blue dot moved closer.
Closer.
Closer.
The man was almost directly above her.
She could see his shoes.
Mud covered the soles.
A flashlight beam swept across the floor.
Emma stopped breathing.
The man crouched down.
For one terrifying second she thought he had found her.
Then—
A deafening explosion shook the mansion.
The windows shattered.
Alarms screamed.
The men jumped to their feet.
"What was that?"
Another voice shouted through a radio.
"They're here!"
Gunfire erupted outside.
The thief nearest Emma cursed.
"We have company."
All the men sprinted from the room.
The door slammed shut behind them.
Emma finally inhaled.
"Daddy?"
"They arrived."
The green dots on the screen were moving incredibly fast.
Professional.
Precise.
One blue dot vanished.
Then another.
Then another.
The intruders were being eliminated.
But suddenly Emma noticed something.
Victoria wasn't running.
She wasn't afraid.
She was smiling.
A terrible feeling crept into Emma's stomach.
"Daddy..."
"What is it?"
"Victoria looks happy."
Silence.
Then her father swore quietly.
The screen zoomed in.
Victoria reached into her purse.
She removed a small device.
A detonator.
Emma's blood turned cold.
"Daddy..."
"I see it."
"What's she doing?"
His voice changed instantly.
Sharp.
Urgent.
"Emma, get out from under the piano."
"What?"
"Now."
She crawled out.
The hidden screen flashed red.
WARNING.
WARNING.
WARNING.
A section of the mansion blueprint glowed bright crimson.
The security room.
Victoria stood inside it.
Holding the detonator.
Then she pressed the button.
A massive explosion ripped through the east wing of the mansion.
The floor shook violently.
Emma was thrown against a chair.
Smoke filled the hallways.
The screen went black.
For several seconds all she heard was ringing.
Then her father's voice returned.
Furious.
"Victoria."
Emma had never heard him sound like that.
Not once.
Not ever.
It was the voice of a man whose patience had finally ended.
"Daddy?"
"I'm coming."
The line disconnected.
For the first time that night, Emma was completely alone.
Thirty minutes later.
The mansion looked like a battlefield.
Police cars surrounded the property.
Emergency lights flashed through the rain.
Several criminals had been arrested.
Others had escaped.
But Victoria was nowhere to be found.
Emma sat wrapped in a blanket inside an armored SUV.
A medic checked her pulse.
"You were very brave tonight."
Emma barely heard him.
She kept staring toward the mansion.
Waiting.
Finally a black helicopter descended onto the front lawn.
Its blades cut through the storm.
The door opened.
A tall man stepped out.
Emma jumped from the SUV.
"Daddy!"
She ran.
The man caught her in his arms.
For the first time all night she cried.
Real tears.
Uncontrollable tears.
Her father held her tightly.
"It's okay."
"You knew."
"I know."
"You knew she was bad."
His expression darkened.
"Not at first."
"Then when?"
He glanced toward the ruined mansion.
"Six months ago."
Emma looked up at him.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
The answer hurt.
"Because I hoped I was wrong."
He kissed her forehead.
"But I wasn't."
Emma noticed something strange.
Her father wasn't surprised by any of this.
Not really.
It was as though he had expected war.
Expected betrayal.
Expected Victoria.
"Daddy..."
"Yes?"
"Who is she working for?"
His jaw tightened.
"A man I thought was dead."
Before Emma could ask more, another figure approached.
A gray-haired woman wearing a dark suit.
She handed her father a tablet.
"We found this."
He examined the screen.
His face instantly changed.
"What is it?" Emma asked.
The woman hesitated.
Then she turned the tablet toward them.
A video was playing.
Victoria appeared on screen.
She was alive.
Unharmed.
And smiling.
"Hello, Richard."
Emma recognized the name.
Richard.
Her father's real name.
Not the one used in magazines.
Not the one known by the public.
The private one.
The dangerous one.
Victoria continued speaking.
"If you're watching this, then your men survived the explosion."
Her smile widened.
"Congratulations."
Richard's eyes narrowed.
"What do you want?" he muttered.
The video answered.
"I took something from you."
Emma felt her father's body become rigid.
Victoria leaned closer to the camera.
"You think tonight was about money."
"It wasn't."
"You think this was a robbery."
"It wasn't."
Her smile vanished.
"This was revenge."
The video suddenly changed.
A photograph appeared.
An old photograph.
Richard.
Victoria.
And another man.
A stranger.
But the moment Richard saw him, all color drained from his face.
Emma had never seen her father look afraid.
Until now.
The screen went black.
Then a final message appeared.
COMING FOR THE GIRL.
Emma felt ice run through her veins.
The storm raged overhead.
Police officers shouted in the distance.
But none of it mattered.
Because somewhere out there, Victoria was still free.
And whoever stood beside her wanted Emma.
The gray-haired woman broke the silence.
"Sir."
Richard never looked away from the dark screen.
"What?"
"We tracked Victoria's signal for three seconds."
"Where?"
The woman swallowed.
"Private airfield."
Richard nodded slowly.
"She's leaving the country."
Emma grabbed his hand.
"Daddy, who's the man in the picture?"
For a long moment he said nothing.
Then he looked down at his daughter.
His eyes carried a truth he had hidden for years.
"A ghost from my past."
"What does that mean?"
"It means..."
A distant explosion echoed across the city skyline.
Everyone turned.
A tower of fire rose into the night.
The woman received a message through her earpiece.
Her face turned pale.
"Sir."
Richard already knew.
"What happened?"
"The airfield."
Emma's heart pounded.
The woman whispered the answer.
"It exploded."
No bodies.
No survivors.
No evidence.
May you like
Victoria had vanished.
And the war had only just begun.
