Chapter 1 - THE FOOTSTEPS IN THE HALLLily’s stomach burned beneath Serena’s heel.
But she kept crawling.
One inch.
Then another.
Her trembling fingers stretched toward Ethan.
The baby lay only a few feet away, his tiny body curled against the cold marble floor. His cries had changed. That terrified Lily more than anything.
A moment ago, he had been screaming.
Now he was barely making a sound.
“Ethan,” Lily whispered.
Her voice cracked.
“Baby, look at me.”
Serena laughed.
It was a soft laugh.
Almost bored.
“You really don’t know when to stop, do you?”
Lily ignored her.
She reached again.
Serena moved her foot.
For one terrible second, Lily thought the woman was going to kick her again.
Instead, Serena crouched beside Ethan.
Lily froze.
“Don’t touch him.”
The words came out weak.
Serena slowly turned her head.
“What did you say?”
“Don’t…”
Lily swallowed through the pain.
“Don’t touch him.”
Serena smiled.
It was not the smile she wore in photographs.
It was not the gentle expression she used whenever Victor Blackwood stood beside her.
This smile was empty.
Cold.
“You know what your problem is, Lily?”
Lily stared at Ethan.
His eyes were half closed.
“No,” Serena continued. “You started believing you mattered.”
Lily’s fingers scraped across the marble.
“Please.”
“You were hired to change diapers.”
Serena leaned closer.
“To feed him.”
Her voice became quieter.
“To disappear whenever important people enter the room.”
Lily finally looked at her.
“But somewhere along the way, you forgot who you are.”
A sharp sound echoed through the foyer.
Lily’s heart stopped.
Footsteps.
Serena heard them too.
Her expression changed instantly.
For the first time, something close to fear crossed her face.
The footsteps were slow.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
One.
Then another.
Coming from the long hallway leading toward the private entrance.
Lily knew those footsteps.
Everyone in the Blackwood mansion knew them.
Victor Blackwood was home.
Serena stood immediately.
Her face transformed so quickly that Lily almost could not believe it.
The coldness vanished.
Her eyes widened.
Her lips parted.
Within seconds, Serena Montigue no longer looked like the woman who had dragged a fourteen-month-old child across a marble floor.
She looked terrified.
“Victor!” she screamed.
Lily stared at her.
Serena pointed toward Lily.
“She attacked Ethan!”
For one second, Lily thought she had misunderstood.
Then Victor appeared.
He stepped from the shadows of the hallway wearing a dark charcoal suit, his black coat still hanging open from the Chicago winter.
He was taller than Lily remembered.
Or perhaps fear simply made him seem larger.
Victor Blackwood was not a man who needed to raise his voice.
People became quiet when he entered a room.
His reputation had followed him through Chicago for years.
Businessmen whispered his name.
Politicians avoided being photographed near him.
Men who had once laughed at him suddenly disappeared from the city.
Lily had never asked questions.
She was Ethan’s nanny.
Her job was to protect the baby.
Nothing else.
But now Victor stood in the foyer.
And Ethan was lying on the floor.
Victor did not move.
His eyes traveled slowly across the room.
First Serena.
Then Lily.
Then Ethan.
Everything changed.
The silence became unbearable.
Victor’s face lost all color.
“Ethan.”
He said his son’s name once.
Quietly.
Then he ran.
Lily had never seen Victor run before.
He dropped to his knees beside the baby.
His hands shook as he carefully lifted Ethan from the floor.
“Daddy’s here.”
His voice broke.
It was the first time Lily had ever heard emotion in it.
“Daddy’s here.”
Ethan’s eyes fluttered.
Victor looked at his son’s arm.
Lily saw the moment he understood something was wrong.
Victor’s entire body went still.
“Call Dr. Harris.”
His voice was low.
Serena rushed forward.
“I already tried, Victor. Lily attacked him. I came downstairs and she was—”
“Call him.”
Victor did not look at her.
Serena stopped.
“I said, I already—”
Victor lifted his eyes.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
“Now.”
Serena stepped backward.
“Yes.”
She reached for her phone.
Victor looked at Lily.
She was still lying on the floor.
Her stomach hurt so badly that breathing felt impossible.
But that was not what frightened her.
Victor was looking at her.
His eyes were dark.
Unreadable.
Lily knew exactly how this looked.
She was beside Ethan.
Ethan was injured.
Serena was crying.
And Serena was Victor’s fiancée.
“Lily.”
Victor spoke quietly.
She forced herself to sit up.
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Serena turned.
“Victor, please don’t listen to her.”
Victor did not look away from Lily.
“What happened?”
Lily opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Her mind was moving too fast.
Serena had threatened her.
Serena had kicked her.
Serena had injured Ethan.
But Serena was standing there.
Crying.
Perfectly composed.
And Lily was just a nanny.
A nobody.
Exactly as Serena had said.
“She hurt him,” Lily whispered.
Serena gasped.
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“She grabbed his arm.”
“Victor!”
Serena’s voice shook.
“She’s lying.”
Lily stared at her.
Serena actually looked hurt.
Offended.
As though Lily had betrayed her.
“I found Lily holding Ethan,” Serena said. “I heard him crying, and when I came into the foyer, she was—”
“Stop.”
Victor’s voice cut through the room.
Serena fell silent.
Victor looked back at Lily.
“She grabbed his arm?”
Lily nodded.
“Yes.”
Serena began crying harder.
“Oh, my God.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“She’s making this up.”
Lily looked at Ethan.
“Please.”
Her voice trembled.
“Just get him help.”
Victor’s eyes moved toward his son.
That was all Lily wanted.
Forget her.
Forget Serena.
Forget the lies.
Just save Ethan.
Within minutes, the private doctor arrived.
Dr. Harris was an older man who had treated Ethan since birth.
The staff cleared the room.
Victor carried Ethan into the medical suite.
Serena followed.
Lily tried to stand.
Pain shot through her stomach.
She grabbed the edge of a table.
“Miss Lily.”
A voice came from behind her.
She turned.
It was Margaret.
The Blackwood mansion’s housekeeper.
Margaret had worked for Victor’s father for more than thirty years.
Her face was pale.
“I saw what happened.”
Lily stared at her.
“What?”
Margaret glanced toward the hallway.
“Not everything.”
Her voice lowered.
“But I saw Serena drag him.”
Lily felt her knees weaken.
“You saw her?”
Margaret nodded.
“I was coming from the kitchen.”
“Then tell Victor.”
Margaret’s face changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
“Lily…”
“Tell him.”
“You don’t understand.”
Lily grabbed her arm.
“You saw what she did.”
Margaret looked toward the medical suite.
“I saw Serena hurt that child.”
“Then we have to tell him.”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
Lily could not believe what she was hearing.
“No?”
Margaret looked at her with desperate eyes.
“Serena has people.”
“What people?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
Margaret hesitated.
That hesitation told Lily everything.
“You know something.”
Before Margaret could answer, Serena appeared.
Both women went silent.
Serena was no longer crying.
The tears were gone.
Her face was calm again.
Dr. Harris remained inside with Ethan.
Victor had not come out.
Serena walked slowly toward Lily.
Margaret immediately stepped away.
“Excuse me,” the housekeeper whispered.
Lily watched her leave.
Serena stopped in front of Lily.
For several seconds, neither woman spoke.
Then Serena smiled.
“You should have listened.”
Lily stared at her.
“You’re sick.”
Serena tilted her head.
“And you’re stupid.”
“You hurt a baby.”
Serena’s smile disappeared.
“You don’t know anything.”
“I know what I saw.”
“No.”
Serena stepped closer.
“You know what you think you saw.”
Lily’s heart began pounding again.
“Victor will find out.”
“Will he?”
Lily looked toward the medical suite.
Serena followed her gaze.
“You think Victor knows everything about everyone?”
She laughed quietly.
“That’s adorable.”
“You’re afraid of him.”
Serena’s expression changed.
For half a second.
That was enough.
Lily saw it.
Serena noticed.
The smile returned.
“Everyone is afraid of Victor.”
Lily said nothing.
Serena leaned closer.
“But the difference between you and me is that I know how to use powerful men.”
A door opened.
Victor stepped out.
Serena immediately moved away from Lily.
Her face changed again.
“Victor.”
He looked exhausted.
Lily stood straighter.
“What did the doctor say?”
Victor did not answer immediately.
Then he looked at Lily.
“His arm is fractured.”
The words struck her.
Lily closed her eyes.
“But he’ll recover,” Victor continued.
Relief nearly caused her legs to collapse.
Victor’s voice became colder.
“He also has bruising.”
Serena covered her mouth.
Lily stared at Victor.
“And dehydration.”
Victor looked between the two women.
Dr. Harris came out behind him.
“I want Ethan taken to the hospital for observation.”
Victor nodded.
“Get the car.”
A security guard immediately moved.
Victor looked at Serena.
“Go with him.”
Serena blinked.
“What?”
“Go.”
“But, Victor, I thought—”
“Go.”
Serena looked toward Lily.
Something dangerous passed through her eyes.
Then she walked away.
Victor waited until she disappeared.
He turned toward Lily.
“Come with me.”
Lily froze.
“Where?”
“My office.”
She looked toward the hallway.
“I want to stay with Ethan.”
Victor’s expression did not change.
“He’ll have doctors.”
“I’m his nanny.”
“And I need to speak with you.”
Lily knew she had no choice.
Victor led her through the mansion.
The Blackwood estate was enormous.
Most people would have called it beautiful.
Lily had always thought it felt lonely.
Too much marble.
Too many locked doors.
Too many security cameras.
Victor’s office was at the far end of the west wing.
He closed the door.
Lily stood in the center of the room.
Victor remained near his desk.
“What happened?”
She took a breath.
“Serena hurt him.”
Victor’s eyes remained on hers.
“Tell me exactly.”
So Lily did.
She told him everything.
The argument.
Serena’s anger.
The way Ethan had started crying.
The way Serena grabbed him.
The moment Lily tried to intervene.
The kick.
The threat.
Victor did not interrupt once.
When she finished, the room became silent.
Lily could hear her own breathing.
Victor looked toward the window.
Chicago stretched beyond the mansion grounds.
Gray.
Cold.
Endless.
Finally, he spoke.
“Why?”
Lily blinked.
“Why what?”
“Why would Serena hurt Ethan?”
“I don’t know.”
Victor looked at her.
“You expect me to believe she simply walked downstairs and attacked my son?”
Lily felt something inside her break.
“I know what I saw.”
“So do I.”
His voice was calm.
“I saw my son injured.”
Lily stared at him.
“And Serena said I did it.”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe her?”
Victor did not answer.
That hurt more than she expected.
“You don’t know me?”
Lily whispered.
“I’ve taken care of Ethan every day for six months.”
“I know.”
“I stayed awake with him when he had a fever.”
Victor’s expression tightened.
“I know.”
“I held him when he cried for his mother.”
Victor went still.
Lily immediately regretted saying it.
Ethan’s mother had died shortly after his birth.
It was a subject nobody discussed.
“I would never hurt him.”
Victor walked toward her.
Lily instinctively stepped back.
Victor stopped.
“I need proof.”
The words hit her like ice water.
“Proof?”
“Yes.”
Lily laughed once.
It was a bitter sound.
“She broke his arm.”
“I need proof.”
“You have security cameras.”
Victor’s face changed.
Lily noticed.
“What?”
She looked toward the ceiling.
“There are cameras everywhere.”
Victor said nothing.
Lily understood.
Her heart began racing.
“The cameras.”
Victor turned toward his desk.
“Security footage from the foyer stopped recording forty-seven minutes before I arrived.”
Lily stared at him.
“What?”
“Someone disabled it.”
“Serena.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
Victor looked back at her.
“You are accusing the woman I’m going to marry.”
Lily felt tears burn in her eyes.
“She hurt your son.”
“And if you’re lying?”
“I’m not.”
Victor walked closer.
His voice dropped.
“Then prove it.”
Lily stared at him.
“How?”
Neither of them knew that someone outside the office was listening.
Serena stood behind the closed door.
Her hand rested against the wall.
Her expression was no longer afraid.
She smiled.
Because Victor was asking for proof.
And Serena had spent years making sure there was none.
But Serena had made one mistake.
She had forgotten about the person who had seen her.
Margaret.
And deep inside the Blackwood mansion, Margaret sat alone in the servants’ quarters.
Her hands shook as she stared at her old phone.
On the screen was a video.
Only fourteen seconds long.
Fourteen seconds that could destroy Serena Montigue.
Or get Margaret killed.
She pressed the screen.
The video began.
And Serena’s voice filled the tiny room.
“You think anyone will believe some cheap nanny?”
Margaret stopped the recording.
Then she heard a knock.
Her entire body froze.
The knock came again.
Slowly.
Three times.
Margaret whispered one word.
“Who’s there?”
A familiar voice answered from the other side.
“Margaret.”
She recognized Serena immediately.
The housekeeper’s blood turned cold.
May you like
Serena smiled behind the door.
“I think we need to talk.”
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