Chapter 1 - The Blood on the Marble
Daniel Whitfield kept his eyes partially closed as he lay on the cold floor.
The metallic taste of blood was sharp in his mouth.
He listened to the frantic sound of Grace Parker breathing heavily beside him.
She was pressing a white cotton towel firmly against his bleeding forehead.
She did not care that his blood was permanently ruining her crisp maid uniform.
At the top of the grand staircase, his beautiful fiancée Vanessa Cole was frozen like a statue.
Daniel counted the seconds in his head.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
For four agonizing seconds, the woman who was supposed to be his wife did absolutely nothing to help him.
She finally let out a dramatic, piercing scream and rushed down the stairs.
She gripped the banister tightly, making sure not to scuff her expensive designer heels.
Grace never even looked up at the wealthy woman.
"Stay with me, Mr. Whitfield," Grace whispered with pure terror in her voice.
Daniel knew exactly what day it was, and he knew his injuries were entirely superficial.
He had tripped on a loose rug, but the moment he hit the floor, a dark thought had entered his mind.
He decided to stay perfectly still to see who actually cared about his life.
The thirty-seven-year-old billionaire realized his entire future was splitting into two completely different directions.
One woman was desperately trying to stop his bleeding.
The other woman had paused long enough to calculate exactly how frightened she should pretend to be.
He suddenly remembered the wise words his late father used to tell him.
You never truly know who loves you when the room is beautiful and perfect.
You only find out the truth when something violently breaks.
The paramedics rushed through the front doors of the mansion a few minutes later.
They loaded Daniel onto a heavy stretcher and carried him toward the waiting ambulance.
Vanessa squeezed out a single, perfectly timed tear for the medical staff to see.
Daniel made a silent, dangerous decision right there on the stretcher.
He was not going to tell his fiancée that he was perfectly fine.
When he woke up in the hospital, he was going to pretend that he had no memory of the last two years.
He closed his eyes and listened to the sirens wail.
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But right before the ambulance doors slammed shut, he heard Vanessa make a quiet phone call.
"The problem took care of itself," Vanessa whispered coldly into her cell phone.
