Chapter 1 - SHE RAISED THE BAT OVER THE HELPLESS OLD WOMAN—THEN THE MAID DID THE ONE THING NOBODY DARED TO DO
The silver baseball bat flashed beneath the afternoon sun like a blade.
For half a second, Sofia Ramirez thought her eyes were deceiving her.
Around the enormous backyard of the Hawthorne villa, nearly sixty guests stood beneath white umbrellas with champagne glasses in their hands. Beyond them, sunlight glittered across the turquoise swimming pool, while waiters in white jackets moved between tables decorated with roses and crystal.
It was supposed to be Eleanor Hawthorne’s seventy-fifth birthday celebration.
Instead, Sofia was watching someone prepare to hit her.
Eleanor sat helplessly in her black wheelchair near the edge of the lawn. Her white hair was carefully arranged, a black velvet shawl rested across her thin shoulders, and the pearl necklace around her neck had belonged to her mother.
Standing over her was Victoria Ashford.
Thirty-five years old.
Beautiful.
Wealthy.
And furious.
Her red sequined dress shimmered violently whenever she moved.
But Sofia barely noticed the dress.
She noticed the bat.
“Say it again,” Victoria hissed.
Eleanor looked up at her.
Her hands trembled against the wheelchair.
But her voice remained surprisingly steady.
“I said Daniel deserves to know.”
Victoria's expression twisted.
“You promised me.”
“I promised because I was afraid.”
Several guests were watching now.
Nobody intervened.
That was what shocked Sofia most.
Some looked embarrassed.
Others looked frightened.
A few simply pretended not to notice.
Victoria stepped closer.
“You miserable old woman.”
Eleanor's face tightened.
“Victoria, please.”
“You think because you're his mother, you can destroy everything I've built?”
“I am trying to stop you from destroying him.”
Victoria raised the bat.
Sofia dropped the tray in her hands.
Crystal glasses exploded across the patio.
Everyone turned.
Sofia ran.
She had worked at Hawthorne Villa for only six weeks. She knew almost nothing about the family except what servants whispered downstairs.
Eleanor was Daniel Hawthorne's mother.
Victoria was Daniel's fiancée.
Their wedding was supposed to happen in three weeks.
Daniel himself had spent most of the past month in New York handling an acquisition worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
And everyone in the house feared Victoria.
Sofia did not have time to remember any of that.
She saw an elderly woman.
She saw a weapon.
She moved.
“STOP!”
Victoria swung around.
Sofia grabbed her wrist.
The bat slipped from Victoria's hand and landed on the lawn.
Victoria stared at Sofia.
For one second, she seemed incapable of understanding what had happened.
Then rage transformed her face.
“How dare you touch me?”
Sofia positioned herself between Victoria and Eleanor.
“Stay away from her.”
The guests went silent.
Victoria laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because she could not believe a maid had spoken to her that way.
“Excuse me?”
Sofia's heart was pounding.
She knew this woman could have her fired.
She knew Sofia needed this job.
Her younger brother Mateo was halfway through nursing school, and Sofia had been sending nearly half her paycheck home every month.
Losing this position would hurt.
But there were things more expensive than unemployment.
Cowardice was one of them.
“I said stay away from her.”
Victoria stepped forward and shoved Sofia.
“You little—”
Sofia slapped her.
The sound cracked across the backyard.
Gasps rose from the guests.
Victoria staggered.
Her hand flew to her cheek.
Sofia stared at her.
Victoria moved again.
Sofia slapped her a second time.
Harder.
Victoria stumbled backward.
For perhaps the first time in her adult life, nobody rushed to protect her.
Sofia pointed toward Eleanor.
“Don't you ever touch her again.”
Victoria's face became scarlet.
“I'LL HAVE YOU FIRED!”
Sofia's breathing was heavy.
“Fine.”
“You think you're brave?”
“No.”
Sofia looked at Eleanor.
“I think she's seventy-five years old and sitting in a wheelchair.”
Victoria pointed at Sofia.
“You have no idea who you're talking to!”
“Right now?”
Sofia looked at the bat.
“Someone who was about to hit an old woman.”
Murmurs spread among the guests.
Victoria heard them.
That humiliated her more than the slaps.
“You're finished.”
She turned toward the staff.
“Security!”
Nobody moved.
“SECURITY!”
Still nothing.
Sofia frowned.
Then she noticed something.
The guests were no longer looking at Victoria.
They were looking behind her.
Toward the villa.
Sofia turned.
A tall man stood inside the open glass doorway.
Black suit.
Black shirt.
No tie.
Dark hair touched with gray at the temples.
He was perhaps forty-five.
He did not look angry.
That somehow made him more intimidating.
Sofia had seen his photographs in the house.
Daniel Hawthorne.
Founder and CEO of Hawthorne Global.
Eleanor's only son.
Victoria's fiancé.
And Sofia's employer.
He had supposedly been in New York.
Apparently, New York had released him early.
Victoria's expression changed instantly.
“Daniel.”
He ignored her.
His eyes moved to the silver bat.
Then to Sofia.
Then to his mother.
Daniel walked across the patio.
Nobody spoke.
He stopped beside Eleanor and lowered himself slightly.
“Mother.”
His voice became gentle.
“Are you alright?”
Eleanor looked at him.
For the first time since Sofia had met her, the old woman seemed genuinely frightened.
“Daniel.”
He touched her shoulder.
“Did she hurt you?”
Eleanor looked toward Victoria.
Victoria immediately stepped forward.
“This is ridiculous. Your mother became hysterical and that maid attacked me!”
Daniel slowly stood.
“Quiet, Victoria.”
Two words.
Nothing more.
Victoria stopped.
Sofia felt the atmosphere change.
Daniel looked at the bat again.
Then at Victoria.
Then at Sofia.
He approached her.
Sofia straightened.
She expected dismissal.
Possibly police.
She had assaulted her employer's fiancée in front of dozens of witnesses.
Daniel stopped several feet away.
“What is your name?”
“Sofia Ramirez.”
“How long have you worked here?”
“Six weeks.”
“Did you slap Victoria?”
“Yes.”
Several guests looked shocked by her immediate admission.
Daniel's eyebrow moved slightly.
“Twice?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Sofia looked toward Eleanor.
“Because the first one didn't stop her.”
Someone near the pool choked on champagne.
Daniel almost reacted.
Almost.
But his attention returned to the bat.
“What happened?”
Sofia told him.
No exaggeration.
No attempt to make herself heroic.
Victoria interrupted.
“She is lying!”
Daniel turned.
“I said quiet.”
Victoria stared at him.
“You're going to believe a maid over me?”
“No.”
Victoria relaxed slightly.
Daniel continued.
“I'm going to believe the security cameras.”
Her face changed.
Sofia saw it.
So did Daniel.
He looked toward the villa.
“Marcus.”
The security director approached.
“Sir.”
“Pull every camera covering the backyard.”
Victoria suddenly spoke.
“You don't need to do that.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Why?”
“It was an argument.”
“With a baseball bat?”
“I wasn't going to hit her!”
Eleanor whispered:
“Yes, you were.”
Daniel turned toward his mother.
Eleanor was crying.
That seemed to affect him more than anything else.
“Why?”
Eleanor looked at Victoria.
Then at Daniel.
“Because I was going to tell you.”
Victoria's face went white.
“Eleanor.”
Daniel noticed.
“Tell me what?”
Eleanor gripped the armrests of her wheelchair.
“Your wedding cannot happen.”
The backyard became completely silent.
Daniel stared.
“What are you talking about?”
Victoria rushed forward.
“She's confused.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“No.”
“She hasn't been taking her medication properly.”
Sofia looked at Victoria.
That accusation came too quickly.
Daniel noticed too.
He crouched beside his mother.
“Tell me.”
Eleanor's eyes filled with tears.
“I found something.”
“What?”
“In your father's study.”
Daniel stiffened.
His father had been dead for twelve years.
Eleanor continued.
“A letter.”
Victoria stepped backward.
Daniel saw her.
“What letter?”
Eleanor whispered:
“One your father wrote before he died.”
Daniel's face changed.
“What did it say?”
Eleanor looked toward Victoria.
“He knew her.”
Daniel slowly turned.
Victoria shook her head.
“No.”
Eleanor continued.
“He knew Victoria long before you met her.”
Daniel stared at his fiancée.
“What does that mean?”
Victoria's voice trembled.
“Daniel, don't listen to her.”
Eleanor reached beneath her black velvet shawl.
Nothing.
She searched again.
Her expression changed.
“The envelope.”
Daniel frowned.
“What?”
“It was here.”
Victoria stopped breathing.
Sofia noticed.
Eleanor looked around desperately.
“I had it five minutes ago.”
Daniel stood.
“Where is it?”
“I don't know.”
Sofia remembered something.
When she ran toward Eleanor, Victoria had been leaning over the wheelchair.
Not merely threatening her.
Reaching behind her.
Sofia looked at Victoria.
Victoria saw the realization.
Daniel followed Sofia's gaze.
“Victoria.”
She stepped backward.
“Don't.”
“Give me the letter.”
“I don't have anything.”
Daniel held out his hand.
“Then empty your purse.”
Victoria stared at him.
“No.”
Daniel's expression became cold.
“Why not?”
“Because I'm not going to be searched like a criminal because your senile mother tells some ridiculous story!”
Eleanor flinched.
Sofia stepped toward her.
Daniel saw his mother's reaction.
Something inside him hardened.
“Leave.”
Victoria stared.
“What?”
“Leave my house.”
“Daniel—”
“Now.”
Victoria laughed nervously.
“Our wedding is in three weeks.”
“Not anymore.”
Gasps spread across the lawn.
Victoria's face collapsed.
“You don't mean that.”
Daniel looked at the silver bat.
“I watched the woman I planned to marry stand beside a weapon while my mother cried.”
His eyes returned to Victoria.
“I mean every word.”
Victoria looked at Sofia.
Hatred filled her face.
“This is because of her.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Then he said something that made Sofia's stomach tighten.
“This began before Sofia ever entered this house.”
Victoria froze.
Daniel looked toward his mother.
“Where did you find the letter?”
“My bedroom.”
“No.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“Your father's study.”
Daniel frowned.
“That room has been locked for twelve years.”
“I found the key.”
“Where?”
Eleanor slowly looked at Sofia.
Sofia's pulse changed.
“Why are you looking at me?”
Eleanor whispered:
“Because it was inside the necklace your mother gave you.”
Sofia stopped breathing.
Victoria stared at her.
Daniel's expression changed.
“My mother?”
Sofia touched the small silver necklace beneath her uniform.
“My mother died nine years ago.”
Eleanor nodded.
“I know.”
Sofia felt suddenly cold.
“How?”
Eleanor's eyes filled.
“Because I knew her.”
Sofia stared.
“You knew my mother?”
“Yes.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What was her name?”
Sofia answered:
“Isabella Ramirez.”
Daniel went completely still.
The name meant something to him.
Sofia saw it immediately.
“Mr. Hawthorne?”
Daniel looked at her necklace.
Then at Sofia's face.
And whispered:
“That name was in my father's will.”
Sofia's heart stopped.
“What?”
Daniel stared at her.
“My father left Isabella Ramirez something.”
“What?”
Daniel's voice became barely audible.
“Half of this estate.”
Before Sofia could respond, a scream came from inside the villa.
Everyone turned.
A staff member ran through the glass doors.
“Mr. Hawthorne!”
Daniel stepped forward.
“What happened?”
The woman was pale.
“Your father's study.”
“What about it?”
“Someone opened it.”
Daniel looked at Eleanor.
Then Sofia.
“That isn't possible.”
The staff member shook her head.
“Sir…”
She swallowed.
“There is someone inside.”
Daniel's expression darkened.
“Who?”
The woman whispered:
“A man.”
Sofia felt the afternoon sunlight suddenly seem much colder.
The staff member continued.
May you like
“And he says he's Sofia's father.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
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