Chapter 1 - The Garden Confrontation
Ethan Caldwell stood frozen in the bright afternoon sun.
His chest heaved as he stared at the woman holding his son.
“Get your things and get out of my house,” he repeated.
Claire Bennett did not flinch under his furious gaze.
She gently lowered Noah back into his expensive wheelchair.
“Dad, please,” Noah whispered.
“She was just helping me.”
Ethan marched across the grass and placed himself between the nanny and his child.
“You are not a doctor, Miss Bennett.”
“You have no idea what kind of damage you could have just caused.”
Claire looked at the millionaire with a mixture of pity and intense frustration.
“His muscles are not deteriorating, Mr. Caldwell.”
“They are atrophying from a complete lack of use.”
Ethan pointed a shaking finger toward the massive stone mansion.
“I will not warn you again.”
“Pack your bags.”
Before Claire could argue further, Margaret Hargrove appeared on the patio.
The silver-haired estate administrator moved with swift, silent efficiency.
“I will take Noah inside, Mr. Caldwell,” Margaret said smoothly.
She gripped the handles of the wheelchair with pale, tight hands.
Noah reached out toward Claire, tears streaming down his face.
“Don’t let her go, Dad!”
Ethan ignored the boy’s pleas and turned his back.
Claire knew she had lost the battle.
She walked heavily up the grand staircase to her third-floor bedroom.
She pulled her battered suitcase from the closet and began throwing her clothes inside.
She had failed Noah.
She had let the best job she ever had slip through her fingers.
She went into the adjoining bathroom to grab her toothbrush.
As she reached under the sink, her hand brushed against something rough taped beneath the vanity cabinet.
She frowned and pulled it loose.
It was a small, leather-bound notebook covered in a thick layer of dust.
She flipped it open to the very first page.
The handwriting was frantic, the ink smeared with what looked like dried blood.
“If anyone finds this, my name is Sarah.”
“I was Noah’s nanny before you.”
May you like
“Dr. Vance is not trying to cure him.”
“They are preparing him for the harvest.”
