Chapter 1 - THE MARBLE FOYER
Serena was already dragging Ethan across the marble when I ran barefoot into the foyer.
His small body twisted behind her. One sleeve had ridden up to his shoulder, and his right arm stretched unnaturally in Serena’s grip.
“Stop it, please!” I screamed. “You’re breaking his arm!”
She turned so quickly that the heel of her shoe flashed beneath the chandelier.
The kick struck my stomach.
Air vanished from my lungs. I hit the marble on my back, pain spreading beneath my ribs before I could raise an arm to protect myself.
Serena stepped over me.
Her heel pressed into my abdomen.
“Who do you think you are, you lowly maid?”
The diamonds at her throat trembled with each breath, but her voice remained cold.
Beyond her, Ethan cried.
His face was wet and red. His injured arm hung at a painful angle while his other hand opened and closed against the floor.
I pushed at Serena’s ankle.
She increased the pressure.
“You were told to stay upstairs.”
“You’re hurting him.”
“He needs discipline.”
“He’s two.”
“He understands more than you think.”
Ethan’s cries weakened into broken whimpers.
That frightened me more than the screaming.
I rolled sideways beneath Serena’s heel and crawled toward him.
“Ethan… stay with me, baby, please.”
My hand reached his fingers.
He tried to grip me but could not hold on.
Heavy footsteps sounded from the dark hallway behind the staircase.
Serena stepped away.
Victor Blackwood entered the foyer wearing a tailored suit beneath his overcoat. Rain darkened one shoulder. He stopped beneath the chandelier and took in the scene.
Me on the floor.
Ethan pale and injured.
Serena standing above us.
“What the hell is happening here?”
Serena’s expression changed instantly.
The contempt disappeared.
Her mouth opened in false panic as she pointed toward me.
“She attacked him, Victor—I was trying to protect Ethan!”
I gathered Ethan into my arms.
He cried when his injured arm shifted. I supported it against his chest and held him as carefully as I could.
“Please…” Tears blurred Victor’s face. “Don’t let her touch him again.”
Victor did not answer immediately.
He looked at Serena.
Then at the red mark from her shoe across the front of my modest dress.
His gaze lifted toward the foyer camera.
A small red indicator light had just appeared.
The camera was recording now.
It had not been recording when I entered.
Victor removed his overcoat and placed it beneath Ethan’s head.
“Call an ambulance,” he said.
Serena moved toward him.
“Victor, listen to me.”
He stepped between her and the child.
“Do not come closer.”
For the first time, fear entered her face.
I used the foyer telephone because my own phone remained in the nursery upstairs. While the emergency operator asked questions, Victor knelt beside Ethan.
“Did she pull him by this arm?”
“Yes.”
“Did he fall?”
“I didn’t see the beginning.”
Serena laughed shakily.
“Of course she didn’t. She came in after attacking him upstairs.”
Victor looked at me.
I forced myself not to look away.
“I did not touch him except to protect him.”
Ethan opened his eyes.
“Li…ly.”
His voice was barely audible.
Serena’s jaw tightened.
The front doors opened as two security officers entered from the driveway.
Victor ordered them to keep Serena away from Ethan and preserve the foyer footage.
The senior officer checked the control panel.
His expression changed.
“Mr. Blackwood, the foyer camera was manually disabled at 7:41.”
“When was it restored?”
“Less than one minute ago.”
“By whom?”
The officer hesitated.
“The command came from Ms. Montigue’s phone.”
Serena reached into her handbag.
Victor held out his hand.
“Give him the phone.”
“No.”
One security officer stepped closer.
Serena backed away.
Then a folded document slipped from her handbag and landed on the marble.
Across the top was Ethan’s full name.
Below it, someone had typed:
INCIDENT THREE — DOMESTIC EMPLOYEE ESCALATION.
The time printed on the report was 7:35.
May you like
Six minutes before the camera had been disabled.
Serena had written that I injured Ethan before the injury happened.
