Chapter 1: The Floor She Should Never Have Been On
I returned early from a long business trip and found my six-year-old daughter holding her baby brother while cleaning broken food and spilled wine from the floor.
I had been away in Seattle for nearly three weeks.
My flight changed at the last minute.
I wanted to surprise Lily and one-year-old Noah.
But the moment I stepped through the front door, I heard a baby crying.
Then I heard Vanessa shout.
"Clean it faster!"
I rushed into the dining room.
Lily was kneeling on the floor.
She held Noah against one shoulder.
With her free hand, she wiped wine and crushed food from the tiles.
Her dress was soaked.
Her knees were red.
Noah was crying against her chest.
Vanessa stood above them with a cold smile.
One hand was twisted in Lily's hair.
"You useless little brat."
Lily winced.
"I'm trying."
Vanessa pulled harder.
"Then stop being slow."
I charged across the room.
I tore her hand from Lily's hair.
Then I sl*pped Vanessa hard across the face.
She staggered into the table.
Lily looked up at me.
"Daddy?"
I dropped to my knees and pulled both children into my arms.
Lily's entire body shook.
Vanessa covered her cheek.
"You don't understand."
"I understand enough."
"She spilled everything."
"She is six."
"She has to learn."
"She is not your servant."
Vanessa suddenly reached for Noah.
Lily screamed and held him tighter.
"Don't let her take him!"
I stepped between them.
"What did she do to Noah?"
Vanessa's face changed.
"Nothing."
Lily shook her head.
"She gives him something when he cries."
My stomach dropped.
"What does she give him?"
Lily pointed toward a locked cabinet.
Vanessa lunged for the key hanging from her necklace.
I grabbed her wrist first.
Inside the cabinet were several bottles with the labels torn off.
There was also a hospital bracelet with Noah's name on it.
The date was from two months before he was born.
I turned toward Vanessa.
"What is this?"
She backed away.
Then Lily reached inside her pocket and handed me a folded photograph.
It showed Vanessa leaving a private clinic with a newborn baby.
On the back, someone had written:
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What was written on that photograph — and what was Vanessa really giving Noah?
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