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The heavy mahogany door of the dressing room seemed to close in on us, trapping the suffocating tension inside. Richard’s hands were shaking as he clutched the small, tarnished silver pendant. His knuckles were bone-white. / Chapter 4 / 30

Chapter 4 - Vanessa’s Desperate GambleThe realization struck the room like a physical blow. I stood frozen, my hand instinctively touching the spot where my hair had been viciously cropped just hours earlier. All my life, I had felt like an unwanted ghost, bouncing from one bleak foster home to another, clutching my mother's silver necklace as my only proof that I existed. And now, I wasn't just a maid. I owned the very walls that had sheltered my tormentor.

"No," Vanessa whispered, backing away toward the French doors leading to the garden. "No, this is impossible. This is a conspiracy! You all plotted against me!"

"Guards!" Richard called out sharply.

Two private security guards stepped out from the shadows of the hallway. They had been stationed there quietly by Arthur.

"Don't touch me!" Vanessa shrieked, her facade completely shattering. She spun around, grabbing a heavy crystal decanter from the side table and smashing it against the glass door. Shards flew everywhere. "You think you’ve won? This house is mine! I bled for this estate! I hosted your donors, I managed your social standing! You’re a penniless orphan, Grace, and I will burn this place to the ground before I bow to a maid!"

Before anyone could react, Vanessa bolted out through the shattered glass doors into the chilly night air, sprinting toward the sprawling, multi-acre greenhouse at the back of the estate.

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The heavy silver fork slipped from my fingers, clattering sharply against the gold-rimmed porcelain of my dinner plate.

The heavy silver fork slipped from my fingers, clattering sharply agains...

The heavy mahogany door of the Fairmont Copley suite clicked shut with a muffled, expensive thud.

The heavy mahogany door of the Fairmont Copley suite clicked shut with a...

Vanessa’s eyes were dry, clear, and sharp. She looked around the library as if measuring the dimensions for a redesign.

Vanessa’s eyes were dry, clear, and sharp. She looked around the library...

"Stop her!" Arthur yelled.

Richard and the security guards gave chase into the moonlit gardens, leaving Thomas and me standing alone in the grand library.

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