Chapter 3 - Whispers Behind Closed Doors
The tension inside the monitoring room was suffocating. Chadworth watched the screen as Sabina sneered, spun on her designer stilettos, and stormed out of the kitchen toward the private library in the east wing.
The moment the heavy swinging doors closed behind Sabina, the atmosphere in the kitchen shifted from terror to quiet heartbreak.
Rosamund immediately turned around, knelt on the cold tile floor, and opened her arms. Six-year-old Gemma leaped from the stool and buried her face into Rosamund’s shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably. Lorelai wrapped her arms around both of them, her small shoulders shaking with silent, exhausted tears.
“Shh, sweet girls, it’s alright,” Rosamund whispered, her voice cracking with profound tenderness as she retrieved Gemma’s stuffed rabbit from the wastebasket, dusted it off carefully with her apron, and placed it back into the child's hands. “I’m right here. She cannot hurt you while I am in this house. Take deep breaths for me, Lorelai. Remember what we practiced: breathe in the light, breathe out the worry.”
“I miss Mommy,” Gemma sobbed into Rosamund’s neck. “And Daddy is always flying away. When Sabina is here, everything hurts.”
“Your father loves you more than his own life, Gemma,” Rosamund said softly, gently wiping the tears from the little girl’s cheeks. “He has a heavy burden carrying the world on his shoulders, but never doubt how much he adores you. One day, the truth will shine through. Until then, you have me. Always.”
Down in the bunker, a hot tear slipped down Chadworth’s cheek.
For months, he had convinced himself that his endless business trips, private equity acquisitions, and international board meetings were all for his daughters' future. He thought he was building an unassailable empire for them. In reality, he had abandoned them inside a gilded cage, leaving them at the mercy of a monster while the only genuine warmth they received came from a woman he had paid twenty-five dollars an hour and nearly fired on a false accusation.
“Switch to Camera 12,” Marcus muttered, adjusting the audio balance. “Miss Vance just placed a call in the library.”
Chadworth wiped his face, his sorrow instantly hardening into diamond-sharp fury. “Put it on main speakers.”
On the central monitor, Sabina was pacing across the Persian rug of Chadworth’s private study. She had a gold-plated smartphone pressed to her ear, pouring herself three fingers of twenty-year-old scotch from his private crystal decanter at nine o'clock in the morning.
“It’s me,” Sabina said into the phone, her voice dripping with dismissive arrogance. “The idiot took the bait. He’s in the air heading for Toronto right now. The house is clear.”
A muffled male voice responded on the other end of the line.
“No, Julian, the girls are completely under control,” Sabina continued with a cruel chuckle. “They’re terrified of me. A few more weeks of psychological pressure and they won’t dare speak a word when I ship them off to that boarding facility in Geneva. Once the wedding is finalized next month, Chadworth’s prenuptial terms give me control over the family trust’s residential assets if he travels more than six months a year.”
Chadworth leaned closer, his eyes wide. Julian?
Julian Croft was Chadworth’s chief legal counsel and secondary trustee—a man he had known since their days at Harvard Law. The betrayal wasn't merely domestic; it was an orchestrated corporate coup.
“Did you get the safe combination from the digital backup?” Sabina asked the man on the phone. “Good. The Kelly girl won't know what hit her. Tonight, I plant the emerald necklace in her quarters. Tomorrow morning, we file the police report for grand larceny. With her criminal record from six years ago, no judge in the state will believe a word she says.”
Chadworth froze. “Marcus... what criminal record is she talking about?”
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Marcus quickly tapped at a secondary terminal, pulling up Rosamund Kelly’s background file. “Checking now, sir. Rosamund’s background check when we hired her was completely clean... wait. Six years ago, she was arrested for misdemeanor trespassing and theft in Chicago, but all charges were dropped without prejudice. The complainant was... Croft Asset Management.”
The puzzle pieces fell into place with sickening clarity. Julian Croft and Sabina had known Rosamund before she ever stepped foot into the Prescott Estate. This wasn't an accidental collision; it was a long-term trap.
