Chapter 2 - NOBODY LEAVES
The first police cruiser stopped beneath the stone archway.
Then another arrived.
Then three more.
Guests began whispering.
The Sterling family was accustomed to controlling scandals.
They were not accustomed to police officers walking through their front door during a charity gala.
Detective Mason Reed entered behind them.
Tall.
Gray suit.
No expression.
Helena approached him immediately.
“This is a private family matter.”
Mason did not slow down.
“A pregnant woman just fell down a staircase.”
“It was an accident.”
“That decision belongs to us.”
Evelyn laughed sharply from the balcony.
“She fell because she was hysterical.”
Claire stared at her.
“You touched me.”
“I tried to stop you.”
“You grabbed my arm.”
“Because you were threatening me.”
Lucas looked between them.
“What happened before I came in.”
Evelyn descended the steps.
“She accused me of stealing from the company.”
Claire watched Lucas carefully.
His face changed.
Only slightly.
But she saw it.
Recognition.
“You know what she means.”
Lucas lowered his voice.
“Not here.”
That answer cut deeper than Claire expected.
Paramedics lifted her onto a stretcher.
She grabbed Mason’s sleeve before they moved her.
“My phone.”
He took it.
“There’s a recording.”
Evelyn stopped walking.
Helena did too.
Mason noticed.
“What recording.”
Claire looked directly at Helena.
“The last seventeen minutes before I fell.”
The room became silent.
Rosa lowered her eyes.
Lucas stared at Claire as though he had never seen her before.
“You recorded us.”
Claire’s gaze shifted to him.
“Someone has been threatening me for six weeks.”
His anger vanished.
“What.”
“Anonymous messages.”
“Calls from blocked numbers.”
“Photographs of me leaving my doctor’s office.”
Lucas stepped closer.
“Why didn’t you tell me.”
Claire almost answered.
Then she remembered the file in his study.
Because I didn’t know whether you were protecting me or helping them.
She kept that thought to herself.
Mason handed the phone to a forensic officer.
“Seal it.”
Helena’s composure finally cracked.
“Detective, that device may contain confidential Sterling business information.”
Mason turned.
“Then I recommend your attorneys prepare themselves.”
The paramedics began rolling Claire toward the door.
She saw Helena touch Evelyn’s hand.
A tiny gesture.
Almost invisible.
Evelyn immediately stopped arguing.
Claire noticed something else.
Rosa saw it too.
Their eyes met.
Rosa looked terrified.
As the stretcher passed her, the maid leaned down as though adjusting Claire’s blanket.
Her lips barely moved.
“Mrs. Sterling.”
Claire held her breath.
“Your fall was not the first plan.”
Then Rosa stepped away.
Claire tried to sit up.
“What does that mean.”
Rosa’s face went white.
Helena was watching them.
Rosa forced a smile.
“I said I hope the baby is all right.”
May you like
But Claire knew what she had heard.
And before the police could question Rosa again, the housekeeper quietly disappeared through the servants’ corridor.
