LOGINHe leans forward, his voice dropping into a conspiratorial, deeply unsettling whisper as he stares directly into my green contact lenses. "In fact... you don't have to be a maid at all, Candy. I can make all of this manual labor disappear with a single phone call. If you can just agree to be my pri
"Look, Naomi, if Dennise catches you in here, she’s going to—" The distinct, heavy sound of the deadbolt locking echoes through the quiet kitchen. My entire body goes completely rigid. My instincts scream at me, a cold shock of adrenaline instantly shooting straight to my fingertips. That isn't th
I smooth down the front of my oversized, scratchy maid uniform, my fingers tracing the small bruise on my chest from where Caroline's finger violently ripped my dress open at the cemetery yesterday. My skin still feels raw from the humiliation, my eyes are burning from crying all night over Owen, a
The striking, facial structure. Sydney is an absolute, undeniable replica of the woman in the vintage photograph—Tobias’s mother. The almost psychotic protectiveness Tobias has shown toward Sydney from the very first moment he met her. The massive financial safety nets he threw under her, the fact
Before I can even open my mouth to apologize for breaking into his house, Tobias speaks. His voice is incredibly quiet, completely devoid of its usual sharp authority, yet it carries a heavy, haunting weight that pins me right to the carpet. "For years..." he murmurs, his finger continuing its slow
I stand frozen on the gravel path, the engine of Sydney’s departing car roaring in my ears. I watch the taillights of her vehicle bounce over the cemetery threshold, disappearing completely from sight, and with every inch of distance she puts between us, my heart shatters into a million jagged, irre
I’ve been pacing the length of the living room for what feels like an eternity, checking the time on my watch every thirty seconds as if I can intimidate the hands into moving backward. It’s well past dark, and Sydney is nowhere to be found. I’ve tried her phone. Six times. Ten times. I’ve lost cou
Did I arrive before everyone else? The silence in this house isn't the peaceful kind of quiet. It’s the heavy, suffocating silence of a tomb that’s been recently dusted. As I walk deeper into the mansion, my heels clicking rhythmically against the polished hardwood, I realize just how much of a mis
I’m nursing a lukewarm cup of coffee when one of the maids approaches, her eyes apologetic as she holds out a plain, cream-colored envelope. "This just arrived for you, Miss Sterling," she says softly. I take it, my fingers tracing the heavy cardstock. There’s no return address, no flashy logo—jus
My focus, or what’s left of it, is on Riley. He's darting across the grass, his small face lit up with a grin as I toss the ball, a soft, underhand lob. He catches it, giggles, and brings it back. "Again, Deckard! Again!" I throw it again and he runs to catch it and then throws it back. I throw it







