Chapter 1 - The Furious Footsteps
My assistant blinked at me in absolute disbelief.
She pointed out that I had just smiled at the gardener.
Before I could answer her, heavy footsteps echoed down the marble hallway.
The person approaching sounded furious enough to destroy the fragile peace I had only just begun to find.
The heavy oak doors of the playroom slammed open.
Standing in the doorway was Victoria, my beautiful and ruthless fiancée.
She was trembling with rage, her designer dress swishing as she marched into the room.
Victoria did not look at me.
Her venomous glare was fixed entirely on Maria and the little girl playing with wooden blocks.
She demanded to know why the hired help was lounging in the east wing instead of scrubbing the floors.
I stood up slowly, brushing the dust off my expensive suit trousers.
I told Victoria that Maria and Lily were here as my personal guests.
Victoria let out a harsh, mocking laugh that made little Lily hide behind her mother.
She pointed a perfectly manicured finger at Maria's trembling face.
She announced that this pathetic housekeeper was a convicted thief.
Victoria claimed a diamond necklace had gone missing from her vanity that morning.
She signaled to the doorway, and two massive security guards stepped into the room.
They grabbed Maria by the arms, dragging her away from her crying daughter.
I raised my voice, ordering the guards to release her immediately.
I reminded everyone in the room that I was the one who signed their paychecks.
The guards hesitated, looking nervously between me and Victoria.
Victoria smirked and pulled a velvet box from her designer handbag.
She opened it to reveal the missing diamond necklace.
She proudly stated that the guards had just found it stuffed inside Maria's cheap canvas tote bag.
Maria sobbed uncontrollably, swearing on her life that she had never seen that necklace before.
I looked closely at the glittering diamonds catching the afternoon light.
I felt all the blood completely drain from my face.
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It was not Victoria's necklace.
It was the custom necklace I had buried with my late grandmother ten years ago.
