1 The Maid’s Little Girl Said Her Mommy Had Been Missing for Three Days

The weeks following the lockdown were quiet. The grand wedding that had been planned for Claire and Dominic was quietly canceled, the invitations recalled with a polite, vague explanation about "irreconcilable differences." In the social circles of New York’s elite, people whispered, but nobody dared ask Dominic to his face.

The estate had changed. The heavy, paranoid atmosphere that had hung over the halls for years seemed to have dissipated with Nathan's departure.

Dominic spent more time at home. He no longer took long trips to Atlantic City or Chicago. He ran his operations from his study, his senior guards keeping a tight, impenetrable perimeter around the property.

One evening, Dominic walked into the library to find Harper sitting on the plush rug, surrounded by colored pencils. She was drawing a picture of a large, black house with a bright yellow sun over it.

"Is that my house?" Dominic asked, crouching beside her.

Harper looked up, her big hazel eyes bright. "It's our house. Mommy said we live here now."

"You do," Dominic said. He reached down and picked up a red pencil that had rolled away. "Do you like your new room?"

"Yes. It has a big window. I can see the deer in the woods." She looked at him seriously. "Are you still sad, Mr. Dominic?"

Dominic paused. He hadn't realized a child could see the quiet grief he carried for the brother he had lost—not the traitor Nathan had become, but the boy he had fought alongside in the alleys of Brooklyn twenty years ago.

"I’m okay, Harper," he said softly. "I'm just glad you’re here."

Mia entered the library, carrying a tray with two cups of coffee. She looked healthy now, her cheeks rosy, the silver bird pendant resting against a clean, navy blue blouse. She smiled when she saw Dominic sitting on the floor with her daughter.

"Harper, it's almost bedtime," Mia said. "Go wash your hands."

Harper scrambled up, kissing her mother’s cheek before running out of the room, her scuffed sneakers squeaking on the polished floor.