Chapter 2 - The Unmasking
That laughter was what alerted Claire. She found them in the sunroom, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs.
“Lily!” she gasped, rushing forward. “I am so sorry, Mr. Reed. She was told to stay in the supply room. I’ll take her home immediately.”
Claire waited for the axe to fall. She waited for the cold, dismissive wave of a billionaire firing a low-level cleaner.
Instead, Nathan Reed looked at Claire with a stillness that was deeply unnerving.
“You brought her because your childcare fell through,” he stated, not as an accusation, but as a fact he was currently analyzing.
“It won’t happen again,” Claire promised, her back stiff.
“You’ll lose your wages for the night if you leave now,” Nathan countered.
“That is my responsibility.”
Lydia Barnes appeared in the doorway, her eyes flashing toward Claire with sharp disapproval. “Mr. Reed, the first donors arrive in twenty minutes.”
Nathan stood up. He was taller than Claire realized, and his presence was immense.
“Claire will finish her shift,” he commanded. “Her daughter will wait on the breakfast porch. Have Leon stay near her. I want her safe.”
As Claire felt the relief wash over her, Lily crouched by the baseboard, pointing at a narrow gap. She pulled out a small, blue piece of sea glass—a treasure she had found lodged in the dark.
“This fell out of your window thing,” Lily said, handing it to Nathan.
Nathan’s hands trembled as he took it. It was the missing piece of the mobile Abigail had crafted.
“Where did you find this?” he whispered.
“In the floor,” Lily said. “You should put it back.”
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Nathan looked at the piece of glass, then at Claire, whose eyes were full of a quiet, tired compassion that he hadn't seen in any of his socialite friends.
“Fix it,” he told Lily. “Put it back where it belongs.”
