Chapter 1 - THE BLOOD ON THE GRAND MARBLE STAIRCASE WAS NEVER OLIVIA’S
The tea in Ethan’s cup was still warm, but a sudden, violent chill swept through the grand study. Down at the base of the staircase—the exact spot where thirty years ago Olivia lay bleeding while Derek and his father laughed—little Leo stopped playing with his wooden train. The four-year-old child stared up at the top landing, his face pale, pointing a trembling finger into the dark hallway above. "Grandpa," Leo whispered, his tiny voice echoing against the cold marble, "the angry man at the top of the stairs says it’s time to pay." Ethan rushed to the banister, his heart hammering against his ribs, but the landing was empty. When he turned back to Olivia, the tea cup slid from her hands, shattering on the polished wood floor. In her trembling palm, she held an old, yellowed envelope that had just fallen out of Leo’s toy box—a letter sealed with the crest of the father who had cursed them three decades ago, stamped with a date from just three days before his death.
