Free Uncovering You 2: Submission by Scarlett Edwards Page A

I’m to ferret out information I can use against him, that would be the best place to start.
    Unfortunately, my search comes up empty. I’m not yet bold enough to open drawers and closed doors, but even if I were, I doubt I would find much. The house is sterile. It’s decorated well, with modern furnishings accentuating the architecture. However, it feels more like a showroom than a real home. The few paintings on the walls are generic and nondescript. There is no clutter anywhere, and not even a hint of dust that could give me some clue about which rooms are used less than others.
    Roaming around gives me no sense of Stonehart the man .
    Eventually, I find my way to one of the living rooms. Two leather couches stand facing each other in front of a gas fireplace. I find the switch and turn it on. The flames come to life, dancing behind the glass. I sit down and watch them.
    At exactly six o’clock, a bell chimes from down the hall. Curious—but cautious—I rise to see what it is. I walk into the kitchen, and discover a full meal laid out on the dining table.
    There is no sign of Charles.
    “Hello?” I call out. After Rose’s warning, I’ve given little thought to the cook, but now seems like a good time to at least thank him. “Is anyone there?”
    Silence.
    Frowning, I sit down at the table, and discover another note.

    Lilly,
    I am pleased with your behavior thus far.
    - J.S.

    A floorboard creaks behind me. I whip my head around.
    There’s nobody there.
    I take a few deep breaths to slow my racing heart. How can Stonehart be “pleased” with my behavior if he’s on a business trip? Rose pointed out the cameras for me, but surely Stonehart has more important matters to attend to than watching me.
    Then again… I look at the note more closely. It’s in the same blue ink as all the others have been. This isn’t a message he faxed in.
    The obvious answer is that he wrote it before he left and asked Charles to give it to me. Or, maybe he wrote two —one saying he’s pleased, the other displeased—and depending on what Rose relayed, had Charles give me the appropriate one.
    That makes the most sense. It also means that I passed whatever test Rose put me through. For a forgotten moment, I gloat in that feeling, pleased that I have done something right…
    I come to myself with a violent shudder. I am not here to be pleased that I have made Stonehart happy. At least, not intrinsically ! It’s all supposed to be an act.
    Except… what happens when the act becomes reality?
    Hunger gone, I push my food aside and stand up. Stonehart made mention of his office in the note this morning. Rose did not point it out to me during our tour. It may have been a simple oversight on her part. Yet I know that Stonehart’s office is the one place in this whole mansion where I might find something that might help my quest.
    I consult the blueprint of the estate I have built in my head. It’s split into two massive wings, and the entrance foyer. There are three levels: the basement, the main floor, and the top floor. The sunroom is part of the west wing, facing the Pacific Ocean.
    Out of nothing more than a desire to spend as little time as possible in that general area, I head east to renew my search.
    I walk down the wide hall all alone, my feet making the only sound against the cold floor. I pass one empty room after another. Oh, they might have some furniture in them, but they feel empty. Empty, abandoned, and neglected. Like nobody even lives here.
    My search on the main floor comes up empty. And I’ve already been in the basement—more than once. I walk back to the foyer and climb the stairs.
    I pause at the doorway of the master bedroom. It’s the largest room in the house, larger than even the sunroom. It’s constructed in a similar style. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the ocean. Rose kind of glazed over this room when we passed.
    I stop and peer in, thinking hard. Stonehart said I couldn’t go into his office