“Dominic!” Victoria wept over the speaker. “What on earth did you do to that girl?”

Before he could formulate a response, the heavy glass doors of his office swung open, and three senior forensic auditors from the banking syndicate stepped directly into his space.

Reality was about to hit him—but the true devastation hadn’t even arrived yet.

PART 3

Over the next few days, my existence within the Brooks estate became beautifully, perfectly still.

I slept whenever Leo slept. I ate hot meals, read books in the gardens, and let the private medical staff tend to my recovery. My mother, Eleanor, came into my room every afternoon, sitting silently beside my bed without flooding my mind with exhausting questions.

She simply smoothed my hair back, just as she had when I was a child.