Chapter 9 - The Shadow in the Nursery
Sabina scrambled to recover her composure, her mind racing to salvage the narrative. She rushed toward the foot of the stairs, her hands clasped over her chest in an elaborate display of relief.
“Oh, thank God you’re home, darling!” Sabina cried, pointing an accusing finger at Rosamund. “You won't believe what happened! Rosamund attacked me! She broke into your private safe, stole your grandmother’s heirloom diamond, and when I caught her, she threatened to harm Lorelai and Gemma! I had to call the police to protect your daughters!”
Chadworth did not stop walking until he stood directly in front of Sabina. He towered over her, his eyes boring into her soul with a disgust so profound it made her physically recoil.
“Daddy!” Gemma shrieked from behind Rosamund.
Chadworth looked past Sabina. His expression instantly softened into infinite warmth as he looked at his daughters and the brave woman shielding them.
“Come here, my brave girls,” Chadworth whispered, opening his arms.
Lorelai and Gemma broke into a sprint, bypassing Sabina entirely, and threw themselves into their father’s arms. Chadworth dropped to both knees on the cold marble floor, pulling both daughters against his chest, burying his face in their hair, weeping openly.
“I’m so sorry,” Chadworth choked out, kissing their foreheads repeatedly. “Daddy is so, so sorry. You are safe now. No one will ever hurt you in this house again. I swear to God, no one will ever touch you again.”
Rosamund stood watching, tears silently streaming down her face, her hands trembling with relief.
Sabina watched the reunion with mounting panic, realizing her control over the situation had completely evaporated.
“Chadworth, what is the meaning of this?!” Sabina shrieked, her voice turning shrill and hysterical. “She is a criminal! She has your grandmother’s twelve-million-dollar necklace hidden in her coat right now! Search her room!”
“I don't need to search her room, Sabina,” Chadworth said coldly, slowly standing up while keeping his daughters safely tucked behind his back. “Because I watched you open my safe on Camera 6. I watched you steal the Prescott Star. I watched you place the cubic-zirconia fake in my presentation box. And I watched you stuff the velvet pouch into Rosamund’s winter coat thirty minutes before you called 911.”
May you like
Sabina stumbled backward, her heel catching on the edge of the hallway runner. “C-Cameras? What cameras? There are no cameras in the master suite!”
“There are when Marcus Vance upgrades the estate’s security grid,” Chadworth replied, his voice echoing through the vast foyer. “Every word you spoke to Julian Croft, every threat you made to my daughters, every confession you just uttered about Eleanor and Clara... it’s all recorded in high definition, backed up to three secure servers, and already in the hands of the Department of Justice.”
