Chapter 1 - THE SUITCASE
“Dad, don’t let Victoria touch the flash drive!”
Liam Hawthorne screamed it from the middle of the street, one hand pressed to his bleeding arm and the other gripping a tiny black object.
Richard stopped running.
Five minutes earlier, he had thrown Emily Carter out of his house for stealing his fiancée’s watch. Now his five-year-old triplets were racing barefoot after her, crying her name.
Emily dropped her suitcase and ran toward them.
A delivery van rounded the corner. Its brakes shrieked as Emily pulled Ethan out of its path. The driver leaned on his horn, but she barely heard it. Noah was sobbing against her shoulder. Liam stood beside her, shaking.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Victoria locked us in the playroom,” Noah said.
Richard caught up, breathless. “Why would she do that?”
Ethan looked at him with red eyes. “Because we saw her put the watch in Miss Emily’s bag.”
The words landed harder than the sight of their scraped arms.
Richard turned toward Emily. She was still wearing her navy housekeeper’s uniform and bright yellow cleaning gloves. He had ordered her off the property before she could even change. She had worked in his home for three years. He had trusted Victoria’s accusation in less than three minutes.
At the end of the driveway, Victoria appeared in a cream-colored dress, her phone in her hand.
“There they are!” she called. “Richard, I’ve been looking everywhere.”
Liam slipped behind Emily.
Victoria noticed the flash drive. Her smile vanished.
“Give that to me, sweetheart,” she said.
“No.”
“It belongs to me.”
Liam held it tighter. A thin line of blood ran from his elbow to his wrist.
Richard stepped between them. “Victoria, how did the boys get hurt?”
“They panicked when Emily left. I tried to keep them inside.”
“You shut the door,” Ethan said. “And Noah hurt his arm getting out.”
Victoria gave a brittle laugh. “They’re upset. They don’t understand what happened.”
“I understand,” Liam whispered.
He looked up at his father, then at the flash drive.
“She put the watch in the bag. I saw her. And I recorded what she said after.”
Richard reached for the drive, but Liam pulled back.
“Please,” Liam said, his voice breaking. “Let Miss Emily hear it first.”
Emily took the drive carefully. A small smear of blood crossed its silver edge.
Victoria began walking toward them.
May you like
“Richard,” she said, “if you plug that in, you’re going to regret it.”
For the first time that day, Richard believed her.
