Chapter 3 - The Snake in the Silk Dress“She found the framed evidence in the bedroom, but the real traitor was standing right behind her…”By midnight, the mansion was dead silent.
Dr. Harrison had stitched my shoulder—fourteen stitches—and given me a sling that I promptly removed the moment Ethan left the wing. I couldn't afford to look weak. Not now.
I sat in the small staff bedroom on the ground floor, staring at my bank account balance on my phone screen: $1,420.50.
I needed $30,000 by Friday. I had four days.
A quiet knock at my door startled me. I opened it to find little Madison standing in the hallway, clutching a worn-out velvet teddy bear. Her small face was pale, devoid of the cruel amusement from earlier.
"You didn't tell on us," she whispered, looking at the floor.
"I don't snitch on my team," I replied softly, crouching down to her eye level despite the throb in my shoulder. "Even if my team tries to drop heavy globes on my head."
Madison bit her lip. "We thought you were like the others. We thought you were like... her."
"Like who?"
Before Madison could answer, sharp footsteps echoed down the marble corridor. A woman in an emerald silk dress and Christian Louboutin heels rounded the corner. Her bleach-blonde hair was styled in a razor-sharp bob, and her emerald eyes held a venom that made the triplets look like angels.
Victoria Vance. Ethan’s late wife’s sister, and the self-proclaimed "lady of the house" since her sister died three years ago.
"Madison, go to your room immediately," Victoria snapped, her voice dripping with disdain.
Madison stiffened, shot me a look of pure fear, and scurried away without another word.
Victoria stepped into my small room, looking around at the simple furniture as if it were contaminated. She stopped inches from me, her expensive perfume suffocatingly thick.
"Listen to me very carefully, Naomi," Victoria said, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing with Ethan, taking blows for the kids and playing the tragic martyr. But it won't work."
"I'm here to do a job, Miss Vance," I said calmly.
"You're here to leech," she sneered, reaching into her designer handbag. "I know your type. Poor, desperate, looking for a rich widowed billionaire to sweep you off your feet. But Ethan is mine. This estate is mine. And those children will hate you until the day you leave."
She stepped forward and thrust a heavy velvet box into my hands.
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"What is this?" I asked.
"That is a three-carat diamond necklace belonging to my late sister," Victoria smiled coldly. "And in five minutes, I am going to tell Ethan that I caught you stealing it from the master bedroom safe."
