Chapter 1 - The Empty Room
The entire dining room froze completely as Richard Bennett's authoritative voice echoed against the high painted ceilings.
Margaret stood perfectly still with her hand still raised in the air from slapping my face.
She looked at the billionaire as if he had just spoken in a foreign language she could not comprehend.
No one had ever dared to challenge the powerful matriarch of the Whitmore family in her own home.
Richard calmly buttoned his suit jacket and stepped deliberately between Margaret and me.
He stared down at her with a terrifyingly cold expression that sent a shiver through the wealthy crowd.
He quietly repeated that my three daughters and I were leaving this house with him immediately.
Margaret let out a sharp and highly artificial laugh to mask her rising panic.
She aggressively gestured for her private security guards to approach the center of the dining room.
She loudly declared that no one was taking her grandchildren anywhere and accused Richard of trespassing.
I didn't wait to see how the billionaire would handle her heavily armed security team.
My only thought was getting to my terrified little girls who were locked away on the second floor.
I turned on my heel and sprinted out of the grand dining room toward the massive marble staircase.
My heart pounded furiously against my ribs as I took the steps two at a time.
I ran down the long hallway toward the guest wing where Margaret always banished the children during her lavish events.
I reached the heavy oak door and desperately fumbled with the antique brass handle.
I expected it to be locked tightly from the outside just as Margaret had promised.
But the heavy door swung open easily with a soft and eerie creak.
I rushed into the dimly lit bedroom calling out for Olivia, Grace, and Lily.
The silence that answered me was the most terrifying sound I had ever experienced.
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The beds were completely unmade, the window was wide open, and the cold autumn wind was blowing through the curtains.
My three little girls were completely gone.
