Chapter 1 - The Fall
The shove came so hard I did not have time to scream.
One second, I was standing at the top of the grand marble staircase with one hand pressed to my pregnant belly.
The next, my heel slipped backward and the chandelier spun above me.
“Emma!”
Someone shouted my name.
Then my shoulder hit the first step.
Pain exploded through my ribs.
I rolled.
Second step.
Third.
Fourth.
By the time I reached the bottom, I could not breathe.
The entire Whitmore mansion went silent.
I lay twisted on the marble floor, one hand locked over my six-month belly.
My sister-in-law, Serena Whitmore, stood at the top of the staircase in an emerald-green dress.
Her face was pale.
Her hands were still raised from the shove.
For one perfect second, everyone saw the truth.
Then Serena moved.
She grabbed the nearest maid by the wrist and burst into tears.
“She attacked me!”
The maid flinched.
Serena pointed down at me.
“She tried to hit me! She lost her balance!”
My mother-in-law, Evelyn, rushed forward.
“Serena, sweetheart, are you hurt?”
Not me.
Serena.
I tried to sit up.
A sharp cramp tightened across my stomach.
“Call an ambulance,” I whispered.
My husband, Daniel Whitmore, stood near the drawing room doors.
He looked frozen.
Not shocked enough.
That scared me.
Serena cried harder.
“She came at me because I asked about the missing documents.”
Evelyn looked down at me.
“Emma, what did you do?”
I almost laughed.
I was on the floor.
Pregnant.
Bleeding from my elbow.
And somehow I was still the suspect.
The cramp came again.
Harder.
I pulled my phone from the pocket of my dress.
Serena saw it.
Her tears stopped.
“Who are you calling?”
I unlocked the screen with shaking fingers.
Daniel stepped toward me.
“Emma, give me the phone. We can handle this privately.”
“No.”
My voice barely worked.
His expression changed.
“Emma.”
I pressed the contact.
Detective Laura Chen answered immediately.
“Emma?”
Tears finally filled my eyes.
“Detective…”
The entire room froze.
Serena’s face emptied.
I looked directly at her.
“Send everyone here immediately.”
Silence.
Laura asked one question.
“Did something happen?”
I pressed my hand harder against my belly.
“Yes.”
Then I said the words Serena had been terrified of hearing for three weeks.
May you like
“She made her move.”
At the top of the staircase, Serena stopped pretending to cry.
