At His Foundation Gala, William Sterling Found His Three-Year-Old Daughter Hidden Behind a Wall—Then Her Torn Rabbit Spilled the Letters His Fiancée Had Tried to Bury

Emma Hayes heard the crying because she was somewhere she wasn't supposed to be.

Not forbidden, exactly.

Just irrelevant.

The Sterling Foundation gala occupied the grand ballroom and east gallery of Sterling House, where two hundred donors drank champagne beneath crystal chandeliers while a string quartet played beside windows overlooking Manhattan.

Emma was supposed to be checking donor place cards.

Instead, at 8:17 p.m., she was standing alone in the west gallery with her ear pressed against a wall.

There it was again.

A tiny sob.

"Hello?""

Silence.

Emma stared at the enormous portrait hanging before her.

It showed three generations of Sterlings posed beneath an oak tree. The frame was nearly eight feet tall, heavy enough that two staff members had needed to move it during renovations.

Another sound came from behind it.

"Please...""

Emma froze.

That was a child.

She grabbed the edge of the frame and pulled.

Nothing.

Then she noticed scratches along the wooden molding.

Fresh scratches.

Emma pushed harder.

The portrait shifted.

Behind it was a narrow door.

Her stomach dropped.

She pulled it open.

Darkness.

Then two frightened blue eyes appeared.

"Oh my God.""

A little girl was curled inside a cramped compartment between the walls.

Emma recognized her immediately.

Charlotte Sterling.

William Sterling's three-year-old daughter.

The child who had supposedly been upstairs with her nanny all evening.

Her pale yellow party dress was streaked with dirt. One stocking had slipped around her ankle. Her blonde hair was tangled against her wet cheeks.

She clutched a battered stuffed rabbit against her chest.

"Charlotte?""

Charlotte flinched.

Emma immediately lowered herself.

"It's Emma. You remember me?""

The child stared.

Emma had met Charlotte twice in the foundation offices. The second time, Charlotte had proudly shown Emma how she could count to twenty.

Now she wasn't speaking.

"Can I take you out?""

Charlotte looked behind Emma.

Fear flashed across her face.

"She'll be mad.""

"Who?""

Before Charlotte answered, heels struck the marble floor.

Fast.

Emma turned.

Isabella Laurent stood in the doorway.

William Sterling's fiancée looked immaculate in a silver evening gown, diamonds glittering at her throat.

Her expression wasn't immaculate.

It was terrified.

"What are you doing here?""

Emma stood.

"Charlotte was inside the wall.""

Isabella's eyes went immediately to the child.

Not surprise.

Not concern.

Recognition.

"You opened it?""

Emma stared at her.

"She was crying.""

"Move.""

"What?""

"I said move.""

Isabella crossed the gallery.

Emma stepped between her and Charlotte.

"Mrs. Laurent, she's filthy. How long has she been—"

"She's having another tantrum.""

Emma almost laughed from disbelief.

"A tantrum?""

"Charlotte hides when she gets upset.""

Charlotte whispered from behind her.

"No.""

Isabella stopped.

Emma looked down.

Charlotte's fingers tightened around the rabbit.

"She put me here.""

The room seemed to change temperature.

Isabella's face hardened.

"Charlotte.""

The child's shoulders curled inward.

Emma understood immediately.

She reached back.

"Come here, sweetheart.""

Charlotte crawled toward her.

Isabella lunged forward and caught the child's arm.

"No.""

Emma grabbed Charlotte around the waist.

"Let her go!""

"Stay out of this!""

Charlotte screamed.

Isabella tried to pull her toward the compartment.

Emma planted one foot against the baseboard.

"What is wrong with you?""

"Nobody was supposed to find her!""

The words echoed through the gallery.

For one second, nobody moved.

Then a man's voice came from the doorway.

"Find who?""

Isabella released Charlotte.

Emma turned.

William Sterling stood beneath the archway in a black tuxedo.

Beside him was Marcus Vale, the Sterling family's longtime financial adviser.

William's gaze moved from Emma...

to the hidden compartment...

to his daughter's filthy dress.

His champagne glass slipped from his fingers onto the carpet.

"Charlotte?""

The child stared at him.

"Daddy.""

William crossed the room in seconds.

Charlotte ran to him.

He dropped to his knees and caught her.

"What happened?""

Charlotte buried her face against his shoulder.

William looked at Emma.

"Why was she behind that wall?""

Emma opened her mouth.

Isabella answered first.

"William, don't overreact.""

His eyes moved toward her.

"Overreact?""

"She was misbehaving.""

William slowly stood, Charlotte in his arms.

"You put my daughter inside a wall?""

"It isn't what it looks like.""

Emma pointed at the compartment.

"She tried to force Charlotte back inside.""

Marcus stepped forward.

"Everyone needs to calm down.""

William looked at him.

"You knew?""

Marcus hesitated.

That hesitation was enough.

William moved Charlotte farther from them.

"Neither of you comes near her.""

Isabella's expression twisted.

"Do you hear yourself?""

"I hear my daughter crying.""

"You never hear anything!""

Isabella suddenly struck William across the face.

Emma gasped.

William didn't move.

Neither did Marcus.

Isabella's voice dropped.

"You spend your life running foundations, attending meetings, pretending you're some devoted father while you don't even know what happens under your own roof.""

William's cheek reddened.

But his voice remained quiet.

"Tell me why Charlotte was in there.""

Isabella said nothing.

William looked down at his daughter.

Charlotte's rabbit was pressed between them.

"Sweetheart.""

Charlotte looked up.

"Why did Isabella put you there?""

Charlotte's lower lip trembled.

"She kept asking me.""

"Asking you what?""