Chapter 1 - Shadows on the Ledger
Dr. Claire Bennett shook her head gently, her expression darkening under the dim corridor lights. "Work injuries don't leave fingerprints, Adrian. Someone held her down. Repeatedly. Over a span of months, maybe longer."
Adrian’s face didn't betray a single emotion, but the air around him turned arctic. He didn't know Emma Reed beyond the immaculate, spotless corridors she left in her wake. She was a shadow in a gray uniform who shrank into the wall whenever he passed, never raising her eyes, never raising her voice. To discover that someone had put their hands on a woman living under his roof—under his implicit protection—was an insult to his domain.
"Is she stable?" Adrian asked, his voice dropping into a dangerous, quiet register.
"Her vitals are coming up thanks to the IV," Claire replied, wiping her hands with an antiseptic wipe. "She needs rest, real food, and a complete lack of stress. If she goes back to working sixteen-hour days right now, her heart will give out. I mean it, Adrian. No physical exertion."
"She won't be working," Adrian said smoothly. "She stays in this room until you clear her."
"And the girl?" Claire motioned toward the cracked door, where Sophie was currently sitting on the edge of the small bed, carefully smoothing her mother's hair with a tiny, sticky hand.
Adrian looked through the opening. The child looked so small against the vast backdrop of his mansion, yet she had marched up to his room at midnight without a single trace of hesitation. She had demanded his help because she believed he was strong enough to fix it.
"She stays here too," Adrian said. "Tell my security team at the front gate that no one enters the staff wing without my personal authorization."
Claire gave him an inquisitive look, her medical bag slung over her shoulder. "You're taking a personal interest in a housemaid, Adrian? That's not like you."
"Someone brought violence into my house," Adrian replied coldly. "That makes it my business."
Once Claire left, Adrian stepped back into the small room. Sophie looked up immediately, her brown eyes wide and watchful. She had placed her stuffed rabbit on her mother's chest, as if the plush toy could offer some magical warmth.
"Is the doctor lady gone?" Sophie whispered.
"She is," Adrian said, standing near the foot of the bed. He looked down at Emma Reed. Without the perpetual tension she carried during her shifts, her face appeared delicate, almost translucent. Her cheekbones were sharp, her lips pale. She looked younger than he had assumed—twenty-four, maybe twenty-five at most.
"Is Mommy going to wake up tomorrow?" Sophie asked.
"She's sleeping because she's tired," Adrian explained, keeping his voice steady and low. "She will wake up when her body is ready. You should sleep too."
Sophie looked down at her bare feet. "My toes are cold."
Adrian stared at the small child for a second. In his world, problems were solved with money, leverage, or force. Cold toes were an unfamiliar variable. Without a word, he stepped out of the room, walked down the service stairs to the linen room, and grabbed a small, heavy throw blanket made of pure cashmere—an leftover item from the main house.
When he returned, he draped it over the small mattress at the corner of the room.
"Get under," he commanded softly.
Sophie didn't argue. She scrambled onto the mattress and pulled the thick cashmere up to her chin. "Mr. Mercer?"
"What?"
"Thank you for being tall."
Adrian paused at the doorway, his hand resting on the brass handle. A faint, almost invisible twitch touched the corner of his lip. "Go to sleep, Sophie."
He shut the door halfway and walked back to his private study on the third floor. The house was quiet, but Adrian's mind was moving at relentless speed. He sat behind his dark mahogany desk, opened his encrypted laptop, and called his head of security, Marcus Cole.
Marcus answered on the first ring, his voice crisp despite the late hour. "Boss?"
"Emma Reed," Adrian said, leaning back into his leather chair. "I want her entire life on my desk by morning. Every bank account, every past address, every court record, every debt. And find out who she was working for in Lake Forest before she came here."
"Understood," Marcus replied. "Is there a threat to the estate?"
May you like
Adrian looked out the floor-to-ceiling windows toward the gates of his Highland Park property. Snow was beginning to fall again, dusting the iron spires in white.
"Not yet," Adrian murmured. "Find out who laid hands on her, Marcus. I want a name."
