Chapter 1 - The Missing Girls
The entire room froze.
Nobody had ever dared to speak to Margaret Whitmore with such absolute authority.
Margaret's face twisted into an ugly sneer as she recovered her composure.
She snapped her fingers at the two massive security guards standing by the dining room doors.
She ordered them to throw Richard out and lock me in the basement until the event was over.
The guards stepped forward, reaching out to grab Richard by his expensive tailored jacket.
They never even made it within three feet of him.
Four men in immaculate black suits stepped out from the crowd of wealthy donors.
They moved with terrifying speed and precision.
Within seconds, Margaret's guards were pinned face-down on the marble floor.
Richard did not even blink as he adjusted his cuffs.
He looked at me with a perfectly calm expression.
He told me to go upstairs and get my daughters right now.
I did not need to be told twice.
I turned and sprinted up the grand sweeping staircase as fast as my legs could carry me.
My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.
I ran down the long, carpeted hallway toward the guest bedroom where Margaret had banished my girls.
I grabbed the brass doorknob and twisted it violently.
The door was completely unlocked.
I pushed it open and called out their names.
The elegant room was completely empty.
The expensive silk bedsheets were perfectly undisturbed.
There was no sign of Olivia, Grace, or little Lily anywhere.
Panic seized my chest, squeezing the air directly out of my lungs.
I ran to the adjoining bathroom and tore back the shower curtain.
Nothing.
I checked inside the massive walk-in closet.
Nothing.
Suddenly, a cold realization washed over me.
Margaret had told me they were in the guest room, but Margaret never told the truth.
I heard the sound of heavy footsteps echoing from the hallway behind me.
Margaret stood in the doorway with a vicious, triumphant smile on her face.
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She casually locked the heavy wooden door from the outside, trapping me inside the empty room.
She laughed and said my worthless daughters were already being shipped away to a place where I would never find them.
