Chapter 1 - THE TRIP THAT NEVER HAPPENED
The billionaire was supposed to be halfway to Canada when he saw his fiancée grab his eight-year-old daughter by the arm.
Chadworth Prescott shot out of his chair.
“Take your hand off her.”
His voice never reached the room downstairs.
He was watching through a security monitor.
Hidden.
Silent.
And supposedly hundreds of miles away.
On the screen, Gemma’s face twisted in pain as Sabina pulled her away from her older sister.
“You don’t touch anything in this room unless I tell you,” Sabina snapped.
Lorelai jumped up.
“Let her go!”
Sabina turned.
“What did you say?”
Twelve-year-old Lorelai froze.
Gemma’s stuffed rabbit lay on the floor near the couch.
Behind the girls stood Rosamund, the quiet housekeeper Chadworth had spent the last twenty-four hours suspecting of theft.
Rosamund moved between Sabina and the children.
“Miss Sabina, please.”
Sabina released Gemma.
Then she slapped Rosamund.
The sound cracked through the speakers.
Chadworth went completely still.
His security chief, Marcus Hale, stared at the monitor beside him.
“Sir…”
Chadworth lifted one hand.
“Don’t.”
He could barely get the word out.
Less than an hour earlier, he had hugged his daughters goodbye at the front door of his mansion.
“I’ll only be gone a few days.”
That was the lie.
There was no Canada trip.
No flight.
No business conference.
His suitcase was sitting in the trunk of an SUV parked three miles away.
The whole thing had been Sabina’s idea without her realizing it.
The night before, she had leaned across the dinner table and whispered, “You trust Rosamund too much.”
Chadworth had looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
“My bracelet disappeared.”
“You misplaced it.”
“And the girls are obsessed with her.”
“They like her.”
Sabina lowered her voice.
“That’s exactly what worries me.”
She had spent months dropping little comments.
Rosamund was too comfortable.
Rosamund knew too much.
Rosamund was turning the girls against Sabina.
Rosamund might be stealing.
At first, Chadworth ignored it.
Then doubt did what doubt always does.
It waited.
It grew.
And eventually, it made him question everything.
So he created a fake business trip.
He wanted the truth.
Now he was watching it.
Rosamund touched her cheek after the slap.
She didn’t fight back.
She looked at the girls instead.
“Go upstairs.”
Sabina laughed.
“They’re not going anywhere.”
Rosamund’s eyes hardened.
“Go. Now.”
Lorelai grabbed Gemma’s hand.
Sabina stepped in front of them.
“No.”
Gemma began crying.
“I want Dad.”
Sabina bent down until her face was inches from the little girl’s.
“Your father is busy. Like always.”
Chadworth felt those words land somewhere deep.
Because they were cruel.
But worse, they were true.
He had spent years convincing himself that giving his daughters the best schools, the safest house, the best doctors, and every possible comfort made him a good father.
But a security camera was showing him what money had failed to see.
Fear.
His daughters were afraid inside their own home.
Then something changed on another monitor.
Marcus leaned forward.
“Sir.”
“What?”
“Camera six.”
The upstairs service hallway.
A man had just entered through a private side door.
Chadworth recognized him immediately.
Elliot Crane.
His personal attorney.
The same attorney who had handled his late wife’s estate.
The same attorney who had drafted the prenuptial agreement for Sabina.
And Elliot was carrying a black leather case.
Chadworth stared at the screen.
“He thinks I’m in Canada.”
Marcus nodded.
“Yes.”
Downstairs, Sabina looked toward the ceiling.
Then she smiled.
“Finally.”
Rosamund’s face went pale.
Chadworth turned toward Marcus.
“What the hell is Elliot doing in my house?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
Because on the monitor, Elliot opened the black case.
Inside were legal papers.
And a syringe.
Chadworth stopped breathing.
May you like
Then Rosamund whispered one sentence that changed everything.
“Girls, run.”
