“The millionaire pretended to go on a trip to catch her… but when he returned and saw what the maid was doing with his disabled son, his world came crashing down.”

He tightened the knot of his red tie, feeling it constrict his throat almost as tightly as the anxiety he had been carrying in his chest for an entire week.
Three days, he muttered to himself, staring at his reflection in the rearview mirror. His eyes were bloodshot from sleepless nights.

I told them I’d be gone for three days at an overseas conference. The house is empty. She has free rein. Now we’ll see who that woman really is.

He stepped out of the car and walked beneath the morning sun, yet he felt cold—a chill that came from deep in his stomach. Barely a month earlier, he had hired Emily Carter, a young woman recommended by a low-cost agency, after no licensed nurse was willing to tolerate his temper or the oppressive grief that haunted that house.

Emily was different—too cheerful, too colorful, too alive for a place where hope had died long ago.

The doubt had been planted by Mrs. Thompson, the nosy neighbor next door, a woman who lived peering through her curtains.

“Daniel, that girl does strange things. Yesterday I heard shouting… and then loud music.”

Music, with a sick child.

“Be careful. People who smile that much usually hide the worst intentions.”