Chapter 1 - THE FIRST LIE
“Get out of my house,” Renata hissed.
Before I could answer, heavy footsteps thundered down the hallway.
Two security guards entered the bathroom first.
Behind them came Patrick Sloan, the estate’s head of security.
His eyes moved from Renata’s torn robe to the curling iron on the floor.
Then he looked at Lily clinging to my apron.
“What happened?” he asked.
Renata pressed one hand against her ribs and forced tears into her eyes.
“She attacked me.”
Patrick’s expression hardened.
“She burst into the bathroom, shoved me into the tub, and tried to take Lily.”
“That is not what happened,” I said.
“She was burning Lily’s hair.”
I turned the little girl slightly so Patrick could see the scorched patch near her scalp.
Lily immediately pulled away and hid her face against me.
Renata pointed at the curling iron.
“It was an accident.”
“She moved while I was fixing her hair.”
“Then Emma lost control.”
Patrick glanced at Lily.
“Miss Lily, can you tell me what happened?”
The child’s body went rigid.
Her lips parted.
Nothing came out.
Renata smiled.
It was almost invisible.
But I saw it.
She knew Lily could not defend herself.
A siren wailed outside the estate.
Within minutes, two uniformed officers entered the bathroom.
Renata repeated her story with perfect precision.
She even added details that had never happened.
She claimed I had been acting strangely for weeks.
She said I had become obsessed with Lily.
She said I had threatened to take the child away.
“That’s a lie,” I said.
“I have never threatened anyone.”
One of the officers stepped toward me.
“Ma’am, please put the child down.”
Lily tightened her arms around my waist.
“No,” I whispered.
Not to the officer.
To Lily.
I crouched in front of her.
“Listen to me.”
“You are safe.”
“You did nothing wrong.”
Her terrified eyes searched mine.
I slowly removed her arms from my waist.
Then I placed her behind Patrick instead of giving her to Renata.
The officer took my wrists.
Cold metal closed around them.
Renata watched with quiet satisfaction.
“You’re making a mistake,” I told the officers.
“Check the security cameras.”
Patrick looked uncomfortable.
“There are no cameras inside the private bathrooms.”
“The hallway camera will show me running in.”
“It will show how long I was inside.”
Renata folded her arms.
“The hallway system has been undergoing maintenance since this afternoon.”
Of course it had.
As the officers led me from the bathroom, Lily followed us.
Her bare feet slapped softly against the marble.
“Stay with Miss Cole,” Patrick told her.
Lily ignored him.
She kept following.
Renata grabbed her shoulder.
The little girl flinched so violently that everyone in the hallway noticed.
For one brief second, the officers stopped.
Renata released her immediately.
“She’s traumatized because of Emma,” she said.
I looked at Lily.
She was staring at me with tears running down her cheeks.
Then she raised one trembling hand.
Her index finger pointed at Renata.
Her other hand touched the burned patch of hair.
It was the closest thing to testimony she could give.
The younger officer noticed.
So did Patrick.
Renata noticed them noticing.
Her smile disappeared.
Then the front doors opened downstairs.
A man’s voice echoed through the mansion.
May you like
“What the hell is going on?”
Grant Callahan had come home.
