Chapter 1 - Don’t Eat the Cake
My father’s fiancée smiled as the cake was served.
Twenty minutes earlier, I had filmed her pouring something into his slice.
Now she was watching him pick up his fork.
“Don’t eat the cake!”
Maria’s scream tore through the ballroom.
The orchestra stopped mid-note.
Two hundred guests turned toward the doorway, where our housekeeper stood gripping the frame, her face white.
“She poisoned it!”
Celeste Vaughn’s smile disappeared.
Only for a second.
Then she pointed at Maria.
“She’s lying! That woman has been stealing from this family for months!”
My father lowered his fork.
“Celeste?”
She caught his wrist.
“Jonathan, please. Don’t let some hysterical servant ruin our evening.”
I set down my champagne.
“Take your hand off him.”
Celeste looked at me as if I had spoken out of turn at a business meeting.
“Evelyn, this doesn’t concern you.”
“My father being poisoned concerns me.”
A chair scraped behind us.
Somebody laughed nervously, waiting for the joke.
There wasn’t one.
I took out my phone.
“Funny thing about the kitchen,” I said. “You checked the hallway. You forgot the doorway behind you.”
Her eyes dropped to the screen.
I pressed play.
There she was.
Silver gown. Diamond bracelet. Small amber bottle.
And the white plate with my father’s name printed on the place card beside it.
The video wasn’t long.
It didn’t need to be.
My father watched it without moving.
“What was that?” he asked.
Celeste’s mouth opened.
“Jonathan—”
“What did you put on my food?”
“It was a supplement. You’ve been tired. I was trying to help.”
“Then why didn’t you tell him?” I asked.
She turned toward the guests.
“This is a private family matter.”
“Not anymore.”
I looked at the ballroom manager.
“Call 911. Nobody clears a plate.”
Celeste reached for her purse.
Maria stepped away from the doorway.
“She still has the bottle.”
Celeste stopped.
My father pressed his palm against the table.
At first, I thought he was steadying himself because of what he had seen.
Then his champagne glass tipped.
“Dad?”
His knees buckled.
I caught his shoulder as he fell against me.
May you like
He hadn’t eaten the cake.
But something was already wrong.
