Chapter 1 - THE FLOOR SHE WAS GIVEN.
Adrian entered his engagement party smiling—until he saw Maya curled beside the kitchen cabinets.
A white bowl marked “MAYA” held three dry crackers near her face.
“Maya… who put you down there?”
She looked toward Victoria but could not speak.
Adrian took his fiancée’s hand. The diamond flashed beneath the chandelier.
Victoria pulled away.
“She needed to learn her place. Your mother’s former housekeeper brought her into this family, and now she behaves like she belongs at the table.”
Adrian removed the ring.
“Then you have no place beside me.”
He threw it into the open trash bin. The metallic clink silenced the ballroom.
Then he knelt, lifted Maya carefully, and placed himself between them.
“Leave before every guest learns what you did.”
Victoria’s confidence faltered.
Maya gripped Adrian’s tuxedo.
“There’s something else…”
She opened her palm.
May you like
Inside was a tiny brass key taken from Victoria’s clutch.
“It opens the room your father told everyone was empty.”
