Chapter 1

The dining room was so silent I could hear the rain hitting the glass of the tall windows.

Thirty-two guests held their breath.

Maisie’s tiny hand emerged from the pocket of her pink cardigan. Her fingers uncurled, revealing a heavy, silver money clip.

It wasn’t just any money clip. It was forged in the shape of a lion’s head, the eyes set with tiny black diamonds.

Dominic’s breath caught.

He took a slow step forward, his dark eyes fixed on the silver object resting in my four-year-old daughter’s palm.

“Where did you get that, Maisie?” he asked, his voice dangerously quiet.

“Miss Vee gave it to me,” Maisie whispered, shrinking back against my legs.

Vanessa’s face lost all its color. “She’s lying. She’s a child, Dominic, she probably stole it from your study!”

“My study is locked with a biometric keypad,” Dominic said without looking at her. “And this clip hasn’t been in my study for three years.”

He gently took the clip from Maisie’s hand. He turned it over, his thumb brushing over an engraving on the back.

“This belonged to my younger brother, Leo,” Dominic said. The temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. “He had it in his pocket the night he was killed in the warehouse fire.”

My heart pounded against my ribs. I pulled Maisie flush against me, wrapping my arms around her small shoulders.

Vanessa took a frantic step backward, her red silk gown brushing against a mahogany chair. “Dominic, I don’t know how the child got it. I’ve never seen it before in my life.”

Dominic finally looked at her.

“If you’ve never seen it,” Dominic said, “then how did you know it was missing? I never told the police Leo had it that night.”

Vanessa opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

The guests began to murmur. Two of Dominic’s security guards, standing by the double doors, subtly shifted their stances, blocking the exits.

“Maisie,” Dominic said, kneeling down again to be at eye level with my daughter. “I need you to be very brave. Can you tell me exactly what Vanessa asked you to do with this?”

Maisie looked up at me. I gave her a trembling nod.

“She came to our apartment when Mommy was at the grocery store,” Maisie said, her voice shaking. “My babysitter let her in. She gave me the shiny clip. She said I had to hide it in Mommy’s bedroom.”

My blood ran cold.

“Why?” Dominic asked softly.

“She said if the police found it in Mommy’s room, Mommy would go away for a long time,” Maisie sniffled. “And then Miss Vee could be my mommy again.”

A woman at the table gasped out loud.

Dominic slowly stood up. He didn’t yell. He didn’t throw anything. But the look in his eyes was terrifying.

“You planted evidence of my brother’s murder in my maid’s apartment?” Dominic asked.

“She’s a thief!” Vanessa screamed, suddenly pointing at me. “She stole my baby four years ago! She manipulated the hospital records! I was grieving, Dominic! I was a victim!”

I felt a surge of protective anger.

“You told me you didn’t want her because her father was a monster!” I fired back, my voice echoing in the large room. “You signed the surrender papers willingly. I have copies.”

Dominic turned to me. “Who was the father, Claire?”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t know. She never put a name on the birth certificate.”

Vanessa let out a sharp, hysterical laugh. “Oh, you stupid girl. You really don’t know?”

Dominic stepped toward Vanessa, his shadow falling over her. “Who is the father, Vanessa?”

Vanessa smiled, a twisted, desperate expression. She looked directly into Dominic’s eyes.

“Your brother, Leo.”

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