Chapter 1
I heard my son screaming before I reached the nursery.
Not crying.
Screaming.
Six days old.
A newborn shouldn't know how to sound terrified.
Apparently mine did.
I crossed the nursery lounge and stopped.
Clara was on the floor.
My wife.
Six days after an emergency delivery.
Hospital wristband still around her wrist.
Hair tangled.
Postpartum robe stained.
Barely conscious.
Her clothes underneath were torn and filthy like she'd been wearing the same things for days.
Noah screamed from the bassinet beside her.
And my mother sat ten feet away eating dinner.
Calmly.
Fork in one hand.
Wine beside her.
She looked at Clara as if my wife were an inconvenience someone had dropped beside the furniture.
“What happened?”
Evelyn barely glanced up.
“She’s lazy.”
I stared at her.
“She still hadn’t finished serving dinner.”
For one second, I thought I had misunderstood.
Then I looked at the dining trolley.
Half-cleared plates.
A serving bowl on the floor.
A tray beside Clara's hand.
She had been working.
Six days after surgery.
I crossed the room.
Noah came into my left arm.
I knelt beside Clara.
“Clara.”
Nothing.
I touched her face.
Cold.
“Clara.”
Her eyelids moved.
Then pounding erupted from the service door.
Hard.
Desperate.
Someone was locked on the other side.
I stood.
Evelyn's voice sharpened.
“Leave it.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“She can wait.”
More pounding.
“Boss!”
Marissa.
I unlocked the door.
She nearly fell through it.
Her apron was twisted.
One side of her hair had come loose.
“Boss…”
She looked at Clara.
Then me.
“You can’t imagine what Evelyn did.”
Victor stepped out of the dining room.
I hadn't even known he was there.
He grabbed Marissa by the hair before she could say another word.
“Shut your mouth.”
I handed Noah to the bodyguard behind me.
Slowly.
Victor released Marissa and turned toward me.
“You've been gone too long, cousin.”
“What did she do?”
He smiled.
“Your wife fainted.”
Marissa shouted:
“No!”
Victor swung first.
Bad decision.
I slipped outside the punch and drove mine across his face.
He went backward through the linen trolley.
Blankets exploded across the floor.
Baskets scattered.
Changing pads slid beneath the furniture.
Victor disappeared through the collapsing lower frame.
Mother rushed toward Noah.
Not Clara.
Noah.
Her hand reached for the bassinet.
I tore it away.
Then sent her backward into the nursery-supply display.
Empty diaper boxes burst outward.
Plush toys fell over her.
Towels collapsed from the shelves.
My bodyguards entered.
“Close the doors.”
They did.
Mother pushed herself upright.
For the first time, she looked nervous.
I walked toward her.
“What did you do to my wife that I can’t even imagine?”
Her eyes flicked toward Marissa.
Not Clara.
Marissa.
That told me where the answer was.
I turned.
Marissa was crying.
“What happened?”
She looked at Mother.
Mother's face hardened.
“Choose your words carefully.”
Marissa flinched.
Evelyn smiled.
“There. See? Even the help understands consequences.”
I looked at her.
“You locked her in there.”
“She interfered.”
“With what?”
“Family matters.”
Marissa wiped her face.
Then said:
“Boss…”
Her voice broke.
“Clara hasn't eaten a full meal in two days.”
I stopped breathing.
Mother rolled her eyes.
“Oh, please.”
Marissa continued.
“She was told she could eat after everyone else finished.”
I looked at the untouched plate beside Mother.
Then Clara on the floor.
Evelyn sighed dramatically.
“If your wife knew how to finish a simple task without collapsing for attention, none of this would've happened.”
My hands curled.
She looked at me and smiled.
“You've spoiled her, Daniel.”
Then Clara moved.
Barely.
Her lips parted.
I dropped beside her.
“Clara?”
Her eyes opened for half a second.
She looked past me.
Straight at my mother.
Then whispered:
“Don't let her take Noah upstairs.”
Her eyes closed again.
I slowly turned toward Evelyn.
She wasn't frightened anymore.
She was angry.
May you like
Not because Clara had collapsed.
Because Clara had spoken.
