Chapter 3 - The Parasite's Architecture
Clara looked at the financial statements Marcus held out. Rows of numbers, timestamps, and digital routing codes painted a clear, ugly picture. The Cole family—prominent, aristocratic, and supposedly vastly wealthy—was hemorrhaging money, and Vanessa had been positioned as the financial lifeline.
"Why are you showing this to me, Marcus?" Clara asked gently.
Marcus looked up, and for the first time in four years, Clara saw absolute vulnerability in his eyes. "Because you are the only person in this house who doesn't want something from me. You are the only one who looks at Lily and sees a child instead of a prop or an inconvenience. I need to know... how long has Vanessa been treating her like this when I'm not around?"
Clara swallowed hard. The unwritten rule of being a housekeeper was absolute neutrality. To speak against the master’s fiancée was to risk her livelihood, her home, and her proximity to the little girl she loved like her own. But as she pictured Lily’s trembling lower lip in the boutique, the rules shattered.
"She doesn't like her, Marcus," Clara said openly, stepping forward. "When you're away on business, Vanessa doesn't enter the nursery. She told the staff to keep Lily in the west wing because her crying 'ruins the energy' of the living spaces. Last month, when Lily had that high fever, Vanessa refused to let the driver take her to the clinic because she needed the car for a luncheon in the city."
May you like
Marcus stood up so fast the heavy binder slid to the floor. "Why didn't you call me?"
"Because you were closing the European merger, and Vanessa told me that if I bothered you with 'domestic trivialities,' she would have me fired and replaced with an agency nanny before you landed," Clara confessed, her voice trembling but resolute. "I couldn't leave Lily alone with her."
