Chapter 1: The Secret Behind the Broken Chandelier
The mansion fell silent.
Not the peaceful kind of silence.
The kind that came after something terrible had almost happened.
Emily sat on the marble floor, one hand protecting her pregnant belly while the other gripped Clara’s trembling hand.
Behind them, the massive crystal chandelier lay shattered into thousands of pieces.
Only minutes earlier, everyone had believed Clara had tried to kill her.
Now they were starting to understand the truth.
The maid had thrown herself into danger to save her.
Richard, Emily’s husband, stood frozen near the staircase.
His face was no longer filled with anger.
It was filled with fear.
Because everyone had seen the wire cutters.
Everyone had seen the cable pieces trapped inside the blades.
The evidence was sitting right there on the floor.
A detective named Thomas, who had been attending a charity event inside the mansion, slowly walked toward the fallen tool.
“Interesting,” he said quietly.
Richard forced a laugh.
“That proves nothing. Maybe she planted it there.”
Clara looked at him with disbelief.
“She?”
Her voice shook.
“I spent fifteen years working in this house. I know every corner of this place. I know how dangerous that chandelier was because I cleaned underneath it every week.”
She pointed toward the ceiling.
“The cable was cut halfway through. It wasn’t an accident.”
Emily looked at Richard.
Her husband.
The man she trusted.
The father of her unborn child.
“Richard…” she whispered.
“Why?”
For the first time, Richard’s confident expression cracked.
But before he could answer, his phone suddenly rang.
He looked at the screen.
His eyes changed.
A message had arrived.
"They know too much. Leave now."
Thomas noticed his reaction.
“Who sent that?”
Richard quickly locked his phone.
“No one.”
But Clara saw the name.
And her blood ran cold.
Because she recognized it.
The sender was Victor Hale.
A man from Richard’s past.
A man who had disappeared ten years ago after being accused of insurance fraud.
A man Clara knew better than anyone.
Because Victor was her former employer.
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And he had taught her one thing:
Never trust a person who smiles while holding a knife.
