Chapter 1 - The Needle
The billionaire’s bride reached into her gown for a syringe.
His maid kicked her in the face before she could use it.
One second, Sabrina Vale stood beneath a crystal chandelier, smiling for three hundred guests.
The next, Grace Holloway crossed the marble floor, planted one foot, and launched herself into the air.
Her heel struck Sabrina’s jaw.
The sound cut through the orchestra.
Sabrina hit the floor.
Someone screamed.
A champagne glass shattered.
Ethan Caldwell stared at his fiancée, then at the woman in the plain black housekeeping uniform.
“What the hell did you do?”
Grace barely heard him.
A small syringe had skidded beneath the dessert table.
Sabrina’s hand moved toward it.
Grace stepped between her and the table.
“Get your hands off her!”
At the foot of the staircase, nine-year-old Lily Caldwell gripped the railing.
Her other hand was pressed against her upper arm.
Grace looked at her.
“Lily, did she touch you with it?”
The girl shook her head.
Two security guards grabbed Grace.
One twisted her wrist behind her back.
She winced but kept her eyes on Lily.
“Don’t let Sabrina near her.”
Ethan dropped beside his fiancée.
Blood marked the corner of Sabrina’s mouth.
She touched it, stared at her fingers, and began to cry.
“I was trying to help your daughter.”
Grace struggled against the guard.
“There’s a syringe under that table.”
Sabrina looked up at Ethan.
“Lily was overwhelmed.
I reached for a tissue.”
“Then look under the table,” Grace said.
Miles Barrett, Ethan’s head of security, crouched beside the white tablecloth.
His body blocked the guests’ view.
A moment later, he stood.
“Nothing here, sir.”
Grace’s stomach dropped.
“I watched it land.”
Miles approached her.
“Enough.”
Lily made a small, wounded sound.
Ethan finally turned toward his daughter.
“Sweetheart, what happened?”
Sabrina answered first.
“She’s been confused all evening.”
Lily’s face emptied.
Grace recognized that look.
It was the expression of a child deciding that telling the truth would only make things worse.
“Lily,” Grace said quietly.
“Look at me.”
Miles tightened his grip.
Grace swallowed the pain.
“You don’t have to explain anything.
Just stay where people can see you.”
Sabrina stopped crying for half a second.
It was so brief that Ethan missed it.
Grace didn’t.
Then Sabrina clutched Ethan’s sleeve.
“Please get that woman away from us.”
The guards pulled Grace toward the service doors.
Lily suddenly broke from the staircase.
She ran straight to her father.
“Daddy.”
Ethan bent down.
His daughter grabbed his jacket with both hands.
“She told me not to fight.”
“Who did?”
May you like
Lily looked at Sabrina.
“The same way Mommy fought.”
