Chapter 1: The Girl at the Piano
“Get your filthy hands off that piano.””
Celeste Ashford’s voice cracked through the music room a second before three-year-old Nora hit the marble floor.
Mae Carter screamed.
“Nora!””
The little girl had been sitting on the edge of the piano bench, pressing one finger at a time against the ivory keys of the Ashford grand piano. She had been smiling at every uneven note.
Then Celeste shoved her.
Nora landed hard on her side.
Her frightened cry echoed beneath the twenty-foot ceiling.
Mae dropped the silver tray she had been carrying and rushed toward her daughter, but Celeste caught her by the hair.
“I told you to control her.””
“Let go of me!””
Mae grabbed Celeste’s wrist.
Celeste pulled harder.
“You work here, Mae. That does not make you family.””
Marcus Vale stood beside the fireplace with a glass of bourbon in his hand.
He didn’t move.
He merely watched.
Mae twisted free enough to gasp, “She’s three years old.””
“And already learning exactly what her mother taught her,” Celeste said.
“What does that mean?””
“That everything in this house belongs to someone else.””
Celeste yanked Mae backward.
Mae’s shoulder struck the polished side of the piano.
Pain flashed across her face.
Nora screamed louder.
“Mommy!””
Mae reached toward her.
“I’m okay, sweetheart.””
“No, you’re not,” Celeste said coldly.
“And neither will she be if you keep forgetting your place.””
Marcus finally stepped away from the fireplace.
“Celeste.””
For one hopeful second, Mae thought he was going to stop her.
Instead, Marcus looked toward the hallway.
“Keep your voice down. The staff will hear.””
Mae stared at him.
“That’s what you’re worried about?””
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“You should be worried too.””
Something in his voice made Mae go still.
Celeste released her hair.
Mae immediately dropped beside Nora.
A red mark was forming near the child’s elbow.
Mae gathered her daughter into her arms.
“We’re leaving.””
Celeste laughed.
“Leaving?””
“Yes.””
“You don’t leave until I dismiss you.””
Mae looked up.
“I quit.””
The smile disappeared from Celeste’s face.
Marcus set down his drink.
“Think carefully, Mae.””
“I have.””
“No,” he said.
“You haven’t.””
Mae held Nora tighter.
For almost four years, she had worked inside Ashford House.
She knew every bedroom, every silver cabinet, every hidden service staircase.
And she knew exactly how dangerous Marcus sounded when he lowered his voice.
Celeste stepped closer.
“You walk out that door, and you leave with nothing.””
“I came here with nothing.””
“That isn’t what I mean.””
Mae’s face changed.
Marcus noticed.
So did Celeste.
Nora buried her wet face against Mae’s shoulder.
Then the front doors downstairs opened.
Everyone froze.
A man’s voice carried through the foyer.
“Mrs. Bell?””
Mae stopped breathing.
Celeste’s face drained of color.
Marcus whispered, “He’s early.””
Footsteps crossed the marble entrance hall.
Firm.
Quick.
Familiar.
Celeste spun toward Mae.
“Take her through the service corridor.””
Mae didn’t move.
“Now.””
“No.””
Celeste grabbed Mae’s arm.
Marcus crossed the room and reached for Nora.
That was when a tall man appeared in the doorway.
Nolan Ashford had returned from Manhattan almost six hours earlier than expected.
He was still wearing his charcoal overcoat.
His travel bag hung from one hand.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
His eyes moved from Marcus...
to Celeste...
to Mae’s disheveled hair...
and finally to Nora.
The little girl’s cheeks were soaked with tears.
A bruise-colored shadow was already appearing along her arm.
Nolan dropped his bag.
“What happened?””
“Nothing,” Celeste said immediately.
Nolan stared at her.
“Nothing?””
“Nora slipped.””
Mae opened her mouth.
Marcus cut in.
“She climbed onto the piano bench. Mae wasn’t watching her.””
Nolan’s gaze shifted toward Mae.
“Is that true?””
Mae looked at Celeste.
Celeste’s expression carried a silent warning.
Nora suddenly wriggled from Mae’s arms.
Her feet touched the floor.
She tried to run toward the doorway.
“Nora, wait—”
The child stumbled.
Nolan moved before anyone else.
He caught her.
Nora clung instinctively to his coat.
Nolan crouched and lifted her carefully.
“Easy.””
Her crying softened.
“You’re all right.””
Nora stared at him.
Nolan had seen the child around the estate before, usually holding Mae’s hand near the servants’ wing or chasing butterflies beside the greenhouse.
But he had never held her.
Never been this close.
Nora’s large gray-green eyes searched his face.
Then she reached out.
Her tiny fingers touched his cheek.
Nolan smiled faintly.
“What?””
Nora sniffed.
She looked over his shoulder at Mae.
“Mommy?””
Mae’s face went white.
“Yes, baby?””
Nora pointed at Nolan.
“Why does he look like me?””
Silence.
Even the grandfather clock in the hallway suddenly seemed deafening.
Nolan’s smile vanished.
“What did she say?””
Mae’s lips parted.
Celeste stepped forward.
“She’s three, Nolan.””
But Nolan wasn’t looking at Celeste.
He was looking at Nora.
At her eyes.
Then her nose.
Then the small cleft in her chin.
His own hand slowly touched his chin.
Nora giggled through her tears.
“Same.””
Nolan turned toward Mae.
“Mae?””
Her eyes filled.
“Nolan, I—”
Celeste moved directly between them.
“That’s enough.””
Nolan’s expression sharpened.
“Move.””
“There is nothing to explain.””
“I wasn’t asking you.””
Celeste grabbed his sleeve.
“You’re embarrassing yourself over a maid’s child.””
Nolan pulled his arm away.
“Don’t call her that.””
Celeste stared at him.
“What?””
“A maid’s child. She has a name.””
Something broke behind Celeste’s eyes.
She shoved Nolan.
He barely moved.
But Nora startled and wrapped both arms around his neck.
Nolan’s voice became dangerously calm.
“Do not do that again.””
Marcus stepped forward.
“Nolan, give me the girl.””
“No.””
“You’re making this worse.””
“Worse than what?””
Marcus reached for Nora.
Nolan turned his body, shielding her.
“Don’t touch her.””
Marcus stopped.
Mae whispered, “Nolan, please.””
He looked at her.
And for the first time since entering the room, Nolan noticed something beyond the fear in Mae’s face.
Recognition.
Old pain.
And guilt.
“Mae,” he said quietly.
“Why does your daughter look like me?””
Mae swallowed.
May you like
“Because three years ago—”
Celeste lunged toward her.
