Chapter 1 – THE FOOTSTEPS IN THE DARK “Stop it, please. You’re breaking his arm!”

“Stop it, please. You’re breaking his arm!”
Lily Carter’s scream shattered the silence of the Blackwood mansion.

Fourteen-month-old Ethan lay on the marble floor, his tiny face twisted with terror. His cries came in short, desperate bursts as Serena Montigue dragged him by the wrist.

His arm bent at an angle that made Lily’s stomach turn.

“Let him go!”

Lily ran barefoot across the foyer.

Serena released the child for half a second.

Then her heel drove into Lily’s stomach.

Pain exploded through Lily’s body.

She crashed backward, her head striking the polished floor. Above her, the enormous chandelier blurred into a circle of white light.

Then Ethan cried again.

That sound pulled her back.

Lily crawled toward him.

One inch.

Then another.

Serena stepped on the hem of her uniform.

“Touch him again,” she whispered, “and you disappear.”

Lily looked up at the woman.

Serena was beautiful.

Elegant.

Perfect.

The same woman photographed beside charity foundations and political donors. The woman Chicago society adored.

The woman who was supposed to marry Victor Blackwood in six weeks.

“You think anyone will believe a cheap nanny over me?”

Lily’s hands trembled.

“Ethan needs a doctor.”

“He needs discipline.”

“He’s a baby.”

Serena smiled.

“He’s a Blackwood.”

Then the lights flickered.

A door opened somewhere beyond the west corridor.

Footsteps crossed the marble.

Slow.

Heavy.

Controlled.

Serena froze.

Lily turned.