Chapter 1 - The Long Fall
The wooden walking cane flew from Eleanor's trembling hand.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!"
Chloe's furious scream shattered the elegance of the birthday celebration.
Before the seventy-eight-year-old woman could regain her balance, her daughter-in-law planted both hands against her shoulders and shoved her backward with terrifying force.
Eleanor stumbled toward the transparent glass railing surrounding the rooftop terrace.
This was one of Miami's most luxurious five-star hotels.
Her lower back struck the metal top rail.
For one horrifying instant, her frail body balanced between life and death.
Then she toppled backward over the edge.
"AHHH!"
Her scream tore through the night as her royal-blue evening gown disappeared beyond the railing.
Seventy stories above the illuminated streets, the wind caught the fabric.
The celebration instantly descended into chaos.
Champagne glasses slipped from trembling hands.
Women screamed.
Men staggered backward in disbelief.
The sophisticated music stopped abruptly.
Only terrified voices remained, mingled with the distant roar of the city below.
And Chloe?
She stood beside the railing, staring downward.
Her platinum-blonde hair moved gently in the evening breeze.
Diamonds sparkled against her flawless black evening gown.
There was no horror in her expression.
Only cold satisfaction.
Moments earlier, the rooftop had been filled with laughter.
Golden chandeliers had cast warm light across expensive champagne.
Nearly fifty wealthy guests had been celebrating beneath Miami's glittering skyline.
Now everyone had witnessed something unimaginable.
A woman had deliberately pushed her husband's elderly mother toward certain death.
But Chloe had overlooked one person.
Olivia.
The twenty-seven-year-old housemaid had been clearing used champagne glasses from a nearby buffet table when she heard Eleanor's scream.
Olivia turned just in time to see the elderly woman's blue dress disappearing over the railing.
Her heart nearly stopped.
She dropped everything.
Crystal glasses shattered against the polished stone floor as she sprinted toward the edge.
"Mrs. Eleanor!"
Without considering the danger, Olivia threw herself face-down onto the rooftop.
She slid across the smooth surface toward the railing.
Her hands shot forward.
At the last possible moment, she caught Eleanor's wrists.
The sudden weight almost dragged Olivia over the edge.
A sharp cry escaped her throat as her shoulders jerked forward.
Her chest slammed against the stone.
Below her, Eleanor hung helplessly outside the building.
Her silver-white hair had loosened from its elegant bun.
Her pearl earrings trembled against her cheeks.
Her legs swung desperately in the night air.
Hundreds of feet beneath her, traffic moved through Miami's illuminated streets.
One mistake would be fatal.
"PLEASE! DON'T LET ME FALL!" Eleanor screamed.
Olivia tightened her grip.
"I've got you! Hold on!"
她的 voice shook, but her determination did not.
She pressed her body harder against the rooftop.
Both feet braced against the base of a nearby fixed stone planter.
Her arms trembled violently.
Every muscle in her shoulders burned.
She desperately tried to pull Eleanor upward.
But the elderly woman's weight was too much.
Eleanor remained suspended beyond the glass barrier.
Her feet found nothing but empty air.
Olivia knew she could not lift her alone.
But she also knew what would happen if she loosened her fingers.
She held tighter.
Behind her, the party guests stood frozen in horror.
Several covered their mouths.
Others stared helplessly toward the railing.
They seemed completely unable to comprehend what they had witnessed.
Then Chloe turned.
She saw Olivia holding Eleanor.
Her expression changed instantly.
The satisfaction disappeared, replaced by furious disbelief.
"No," she whispered.
She had expected the elderly woman to vanish into the darkness.
Instead, a housemaid was ruining everything.
Chloe marched toward Olivia.
Her expensive high heels struck the stone floor with sharp clicks.
Olivia barely noticed her approaching.
All her strength was focused on keeping Eleanor alive.
Then pain exploded through her left arm.
Chloe drove her pointed black heel onto Olivia's forearm.
She crushed it against the unforgiving rooftop.
Olivia screamed.
The pressure sent a burning shock through her muscles.
Her fingers trembled, and her grip threatened to weaken.
But she refused to release Eleanor.
Chloe pressed harder.
"You stupid girl!" she hissed.
Olivia clenched her teeth, fighting through the agony.
Her brown eyes filled with tears.
Yet both hands remained locked around Eleanor's wrists.
Chloe bent down and seized Olivia's right shoulder with both hands.
She jerked backward violently, attempting to drag the housemaid away from the railing.
Olivia's upper body shifted.
Outside the building, Eleanor swung helplessly.
Another terrified scream rose into the night.
Olivia immediately drove her feet harder against the stone planter.
She resisted Chloe's pull with everything she had.
Her blue housekeeping uniform twisted beneath the strain.
Loose strands of chestnut-brown hair clung to her perspiring forehead.
A painful red mark spread across her left forearm.
Still, she held on.
"I'ْم NOT LETTING HER GO!" Olivia shouted.
For a moment, Chloe stared at her in disbelief.
She could not understand why a woman with no fortune, no influence, and no powerful family would risk everything to save an elderly employer.
But Olivia understood something Chloe never had.
A human life was worth more than wealth, status, or social position.
And Eleanor had treated her with kindness when others barely acknowledged her existence.
Olivia would not abandon her now.
Eleanor looked upward, tears streaming down her deeply lined cheeks.
"Please," she whispered, barely able to breathe.
Olivia met her frightened eyes.
"Look at me, Mrs. Eleanor. Keep looking at me."
Her voice weakened as another wave of pain spread across her shoulders.
The elderly woman's wrists were slipping.
Olivia adjusted her fingers desperately, tightening her grip with the last strength she could summon.
Chloe reached for her again.
Then—
BANG!
The grand entrance doors suddenly swung open.
A tall man stepped onto the rooftop terrace.
His immaculate U.S. Army dress uniform gleamed beneath the golden lights.
Service ribbons decorated his chest.
His polished black shoes struck the stone with disciplined precision.
It was Daniel.
Thirty-eight years old.
A respected military officer.
Eleanor's biological son.
May you like
And Chloe's husband.
He had arrived unexpectedly at the birthday celebration.
