The man who had almost hit Ivy with his SUV stood on the pavement for a long moment, watching her thin coat disappear around the corner of the brick wall.

By the time Daniel Harrington found Ivy kneeling on the frozen courtyard bricks, hours had passed. Her knees were bleeding through her uniform trousers. Her fingers were raw, stiff, and completely numb.

And yet, she was still trying to scrub.

That frightened him more than if she had screamed.

Daniel crossed the courtyard in three long strides, his breath pluming white in the freezing air. He dropped to his knees beside her, ignoring the damp stone, and caught her under the arms.

“Ivy,” he breathed, his voice thick with a sudden, violent fury.

Her eyes lifted slowly. The moment she recognized him—the man from the crosswalk, the man who had nearly run her over—panic replaced exhaustion.

“Daniel, please go inside,” she whispered, her teeth chattering so hard she could barely form the words.

“What are you doing out here?”

“Please.”

He tried to lift her, but she almost collapsed against his chest.

That was when the back door opened, casting a warm, golden shaft of light across the frost. Stella Harrington stood in the doorway in her silk robe, looking down at her son holding the maid with cold, unyielding satisfaction.

“She was told not to move,” Stella said icily.

Daniel slowly lowered Ivy to a dry bench, gently wrapping his own wool coat around her shoulders. Then he stood up, turning to face his mother.

The air between them felt heavy enough to shatter.

“You did this,” Daniel said, his voice dangerously low.

“She broke the rules, Daniel,” Stella said, lifting her chin. “She needs to learn her place.”

Daniel stepped forward, the billionaire CEO and the dutiful son vanishing entirely, replaced by a man who had just drawn a line in the blood and frost.

“She has a name, Mother,” Daniel said, his eyes burning with a dark, terrifying intensity. “And as of right now, she doesn't work for you anymore. In fact, neither do you, if you ever step foot near her again.”