Chapter 1 - The Push
“You look tired.”
Vanessa placed one hand lightly on Emily’s shoulder.
Emily turned, uneasy.
“I’m fine.”
The false smile disappeared.
Vanessa pushed once.
Emily lost her balance, landed on the cushioned bench and slid carefully onto the marble floor. Both hands immediately covered her pregnant belly.
“My baby!”
Vanessa stood above her without helping.
The double doors opened.
Ethan entered in his black tuxedo, followed by his mother, Margaret.
He froze when he saw Emily on the floor.
Vanessa raised both hands.
“She slipped. I tried to catch her.”
Emily’s breathing shook.
“She pushed me.”
Ethan looked from his wife to his sister.
Then his eyes moved toward the white dome camera in the corner.
“Then the camera will show us.”
Vanessa gasped.
“Ethan, wait—”
“Don’t move.”
The salon doors locked automatically after Ethan activated the estate’s emergency-preservation system.
Margaret hurried to Emily and knelt beside her.
“Are you hurt?”
“I don’t know.”
Emily remained conscious, but fear had drained the color from her face.
Ethan called the private medical team and ordered them to use the main entrance, where every arrival would be recorded.
Then he opened the security application.
The camera feed appeared.
Vanessa approached Emily from behind.
Touched her shoulder.
Waited until Emily turned.
And pushed her.
There was no slip.
No attempted rescue.
No misunderstanding.
The room went silent.
Vanessa stared at the screen.
“You don’t understand why I did it.”
Ethan’s voice became colder.
“You planned to blame my pregnant wife for falling.”
Emily looked at Vanessa.
“What did you need me to miss?”
Vanessa’s eyes shifted toward the glass coffee table.
A cream folder rested beneath a wedding-planning magazine.
Emily recognized it.
It contained the emergency guardianship papers Ethan had asked her to review that evening.
May you like
But the signature page was no longer blank.
Her name had already been signed.
