Chapter 1: The Eye in the Sky
The silence in the grand foyer was deafening. Marcus didn’t blink. He kept his eyes locked on Vanessa as he pulled his phone from his tuxedo pocket and synced it to the mansion’s security system.
"Let's see what the camera says, Vanessa," he repeated, his voice dangerously low.
Vanessa’s face lost all its color. The confident, malicious woman in the red dress vanished, replaced by a trembling shell. On the small screen of Marcus’s phone, the truth played out in high definition: Vanessa’s unprovoked kick, Clara’s agonizing fall, and the pathetic, theatrical drop Vanessa executed the moment the doors opened.
"Marcus, please, it's not what it looks like!" she stammered, reaching out for his arm.
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He stepped back as if she were toxic. "Get out of my house. Before I let the police drag you out."
Without another word to her, Marcus dropped to his knees, scooping Clara’s trembling, pregnant form into his arms. He carried her out the door, leaving Vanessa alone in the cold, echoing hall.
