Chapter 4 - The Midnight Discovery
Megan could not afford to lose this job.
She volunteered to work the late shift on Tuesday to earn overtime pay.
The massive house felt like a tomb after sunset.
Shadows stretched across the expensive Persian rugs.
The wind howled against the reinforced glass windows of the estate.
Megan was polishing the silver in the formal dining room.
Suddenly, she heard a loud crash coming from the west wing.
It sounded like shattering glass.
She dropped her cloth and ran down the dark corridor.
The noise had come from Dominic’s private physical therapy room.
The door was slightly ajar, spilling yellow light onto the hardwood floor.
Megan peeked inside and gasped.
Dominic was entirely out of his wheelchair.
He was lying on the floor, breathing heavily, surrounded by broken mirror shards.
He had clearly been trying to stand using the parallel bars.
His arms trembled violently as he pushed himself up.
Megan rushed into the room to help him.
Dominic yelled at her to get out.
His voice was thick with humiliation and raw pain.
Megan ignored him and grabbed his strong shoulders.
She planted her feet and hauled him upward with all her strength.
He was incredibly heavy, but they managed to get him back into the chair.
Dominic refused to look at her.
He stared at his useless legs with absolute disgust.
Megan quietly grabbed a broom and began sweeping up the glass.
She did not offer pity, which seemed to surprise him.
He finally asked why she wasn't looking at him like he was a tragedy.
Megan told him she had seen worse tragedies at the grocery store on food stamp day.
A short, breathy sound escaped his lips.
It was almost a laugh.
He told her she was entirely too bold for a maid.
Megan replied that she was too broke to be easily intimidated.
Before Dominic could respond, a cell phone on the floor began to ring.
It had been knocked off the counter during his fall.
Megan picked it up to hand it to him.
The caller ID flashed a name that made her blood run cold.
It was Arthur Vance.
That was the name of the landlord who had just threatened to evict her yesterday.
She looked at Dominic with wide, terrified eyes.
Dominic snatched the phone from her hand.
May you like
He looked at the screen and his face drained of all color.
He looked back at Megan and whispered that she needed to take her son and run.
