CHAP 4 — The Theft
Richard wanted to believe the watch.
I saw that immediately.
Not because he hated me.
Because believing I had stolen from him was easier than believing the woman he planned to marry had threatened his daughters.
People think truth wins because it is true.
It doesn’t.
Truth has to compete with comfort.
Victoria held the Rolex between two fingers like she was afraid my poverty had left fingerprints on it.
“I found it in her bag,” she said again. “Richard, I’m sorry, but you can’t ignore this.”
The girls stood near the doorway in pajamas.
Regina shouted, “Miss Emily doesn’t steal!”
Lucy was crying silently.
Valerie whispered, “Please don’t make her go.”
Richard rubbed one hand over his face.
“Emily, tell me why my watch was in your bag.”
“I don’t know because I didn’t put it there.”
Victoria stepped closer to him.
“Ask yourself why she wanted to speak privately last night. She knew I was getting suspicious.”
“I wanted to speak because of you,” I said.
Her eyes flashed.
Richard looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Victoria has been threatening to send the girls away after the wedding.”
Victoria gave a shocked little laugh.
“That is disgusting.”
“It’s true,” Regina said.
Richard looked at his daughter.
Victoria knelt, her voice soft and poisoned.
“Sweetheart, Emily has made you afraid because she doesn’t want to lose her job.”
Regina stepped back like Victoria had touched fire.
Richard saw that.
For one second, I thought he would ask the right question.
Then Victoria said, “If you let this woman stay after stealing from your bedroom, you teach the girls that manipulation works.”
His face closed.
The billionaire returned.
Controlled.
Legal.
Cold.
“Emily, I need you to leave the property.”
The words struck harder than shouting would have.
“Richard.”
“I will not press charges if you go quietly.”
The girls began screaming.
I looked at him for a long moment.
“You’re making a mistake.”
His jaw tightened.
“Do not make this harder.”
I packed under the supervision of a guard who apologized with his eyes but not his mouth. The girls tried to follow me upstairs, but Victoria blocked them.
“You need to learn endings,” she said.
That sentence nearly made me turn around and break every rule I had ever lived by.
Instead, I put my clothes in the black suitcase, left the girls’ drawings folded in my journal, and kept the brooch pinned to my uniform.
At the front door, Victoria leaned close.
“You should have remembered servants are replaceable.”
I looked at her.
“So are fiancées.”
Her smile twitched.
Then I walked out.
May you like
I made it to the gate before the girls broke free.
And when their arms closed around my neck, I knew leaving quietly would be the only unforgivable thing left.
