Chapter 1 - THE PIN BESIDE HER BELLY.
Lily Carter only wanted to remove a loose thread from Amanda’s jeweled maternity belt.
She held up a small silver pin with its protective cap still attached.
“There’s something caught in your belt.”
Amanda recoiled before Lily touched the gown.
“What are you doing?”
Michael stepped between them immediately.
“Stop. Nobody move.”
Behind him, Margaret covered her mouth as though she had witnessed an attack rather than a child trying to help.
Amanda pointed at Lily.
“She brought that pin toward my baby.”
The accusation changed the celebration instantly.
Guests who had ignored Lily because her late mother married a working-class mechanic now stared as if poverty had made the girl dangerous.
Lily lowered the capped pin.
“I wasn’t going to hurt her.”
Amanda demanded security remove her from the mansion.
Michael looked toward the ceiling.
“The camera recorded everything.”
The white dome camera beeped above them.
Amanda’s face tightened.
Before anyone opened the footage, Lily noticed a tiny black wire hanging from Amanda’s belt.
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It was not a thread.
It led beneath the jeweled buckle.
