Chapter 2
David did not shout at first.
That scared Victoria more than shouting would have.
He dropped his suitcase.
The sound echoed across the marble floor.
Leo released my leg and ran toward him, crying, “Daddy!”
David crouched and caught him with both arms.
The moment Leo touched him, David’s face broke.
“What happened?” he asked.
His voice was low.
Too low.
Victoria stepped forward.
“It was an accident.”
I almost laughed from the pain.
David looked at her.
“An accident?”
Victoria pointed at me.
“She overreacted. Leo scratched my bag, and Maria grabbed him from me. The club slipped.”
“The club slipped?” David repeated.
Leo buried his face in his father’s neck.
“She was mad,” he sobbed.
Victoria’s eyes flashed.
“Leo, don’t lie.”
David stood slowly with Leo in his arms.
“Do not speak to him.”
Victoria froze.
I pressed my hand to my arm. It throbbed badly.
David looked at me.
“Maria, are you hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
I was not fine.
But I had spent six months learning that servants in rich houses survive by saying they are fine.
David’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re not.”
Victoria laughed nervously.
“David, please. You’re exhausted from the flight. Let’s not make this dramatic.”
He stared at her.
“My son is terrified. My employee is injured. You are holding a golf club.”
She set it down quickly.
“I was scared too.”
“Of what?”
Her mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
David looked toward the camera.
“Martin,” he called.
The estate manager appeared from the hall, pale as paper.
“Yes, sir?”
“Pull the living room footage.”
Victoria stepped forward.
“No.”
That one word exposed her.
David looked back.
“No?”
“I mean, there’s no need. We all know what happened.”
“I want to see it.”
“David, don’t humiliate me in front of the help.”
The help.
I looked down.
Leo looked up.
David heard it too.
His jaw tightened.
“Maria protected my son.”
Victoria’s face hardened.
“She is paid to clean.”
“No,” David said.
“She is paid to help care for Leo. And apparently she has been doing my job better than I have.”
The room went silent.
Martin returned with a tablet.
His hands shook.
“Sir.”
David shifted Leo to one arm and took it.
Victoria lunged.
I stepped between them without thinking.
Pain tore through my arm.
David saw.
May you like
His eyes turned cold.
“Take one more step toward her,” he said, “and you will leave this house in handcuffs.”
