Chapter 1 - The Secret on the Floor
"Dad, help her!"
"She is the only one who cares about us!"
The desperate voices of the teenage boys echo as their father rushes into the grand hallway.
His movements are incredibly fast and urgent as he drops to his knees beside the bleeding woman.
"Helena, please stay with me!"
The two teenage boys freeze in absolute shock.
He did not call her the maid.
He called her by her actual first name with a tenderness they had never heard before.
A small gold locket slips from Helena's trembling hand.
It hits the polished hardwood floor with a soft, metallic sound.
Leo, the older twin, bends down with shaking hands to pick it up.
He slowly opens the delicate golden clasp.
Inside the locket is a photograph of a much younger version of their father smiling brightly.
A heavy, suffocating silence crashes into the massive hallway.
"Dad, why does the maid have your picture?" Leo asks in confusion.
The color completely drains from their father Arthur's face.
His breath catches sharply in his throat as his eyes dart between his sons.
Helena weakly reaches out from the cold floor.
"No, please do not read it," she begs with a voice that is barely there.
But it is already too late to hide the truth.
Sam, the second boy, unfolds a small piece of paper that slipped free from the locket.
His hands are shaking violently as he stares at the faded black ink.
He reads the typed words out loud for everyone to hear.
"Baby Boy A," Sam whispers into the quiet room.
A terrible, heavy pause fills the tense air.
"This hospital document has my exact birthday," Sam says with wide eyes.
A low, pounding heartbeat seems to fill the silent room as the reality sets in.
Arthur slowly steps backward like the solid ground beneath him just disappeared.
Helena's beautiful brown eyes fill with desperate fear and breaking tears.
Leo looks up at his father with a voice that is barely a whisper.
"Who is she really?" Leo demands to know.
Arthur opens his mouth to speak but absolutely nothing comes out.
Just before the devastating truth can explode, the sound of slow clapping echoes from the marble staircase.
Victoria, the boys' glamorous and wealthy stepmother, walks down the stairs.
She is wearing a stunning red dress and a wicked smile on her face.
"She is the pathetic woman I poisoned exactly ten minutes ago," Victoria announces coldly.
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Arthur lunges forward, but Victoria simply holds up a small glass vial filled with blue liquid.
"Take another step, and I will smash the only antidote," Victoria threatens.
