My billionaire employer caught my three-year-old barefoot in his forbidden ballroom, holding his little boy’s hands and dancing to a recording no one was supposed to find. I thought Nathaniel Reed would fire me on the spot, until he saw the woman on the screen and whispered, “That’s my wife. Who taught your daughter her dance?”

I did not waste that precious fraction of a second.

I lunged forward and slammed my shoulder directly into Julian's chest with all my strength.

He stumbled backward and dropped the small lockbox onto the floor.

I grabbed the metal box, scrambled to my feet, and sprinted out of the nursery into the smoke-filled hallway.

The fire alarm was so incredibly loud that I could not hear if Julian was chasing me.

I ran toward the emergency stairwell at the end of the corridor.

As I pushed the heavy metal door open, a strong hand suddenly grabbed my wrist.

I screamed and prepared to swing the heavy lockbox at my attacker.

"Stop, Clara, it is me!" Nathaniel yelled over the blaring siren.

He was holding a small fire extinguisher that he had apparently used to trigger the smoke detectors.

"I saw Julian pull a gun on the security cameras, so I set off the alarms to create a distraction," he explained rapidly.

I shoved the metal lockbox into his hands.

"He confessed to everything, Nathaniel," I gasped, struggling to breathe through the smoke.

"He killed Evelyn because she found out he was selling military secrets to a foreign syndicate."

Nathaniel stared at the box with a mixture of profound grief and boiling rage.

"We need to get the children and get out of this house right now," he declared firmly.

We rushed down the stairwell and burst out the side door into the massive garden.

The fresh autumn air hit my lungs like a physical wave of relief.

I scanned the sprawling green lawn looking for the bright yellow dress my daughter was wearing.

The garden was completely empty.

Eli's toy trucks were abandoned in the grass near the rose bushes.

Sophia's favorite pink sandals were left sitting by the edge of the large stone fountain.

My knees buckled as a wave of pure terror washed over my entire body.

A small folded piece of white paper was pinned to the wooden garden gate with a hunting knife.

Nathaniel ran over and pulled the paper free.

The Billionaire Put On a Waiter’s Apron to Test His Fiancée, but the Wom...

My father bet twenty dollars that I would walk through his front door al...

My Husband Slapped Me Out of His House for His Mistress, Then the Most F...

His face turned the color of pale ash as he read the handwritten words.

"If you want to see your children alive again, bring the lockbox to the old shipyard at midnight," the note read.

Chapter 5 - The Escape