CHAPTER 1: THE GLASS THAT SHATTERED
CHAPTER 1: THE GLASS THAT SHATTERED
The champagne glass exploded against the marble floor.
The sharp crack sliced through the music.
Conversations stopped.
More than two hundred guests turned at once.
Emily Carter froze.
Her breathing became shallow.
A jagged piece of crystal spun across the floor and stopped inches from her bare feet.
The ballroom fell silent.
Then came the voice she dreaded most.
"Unbelievable."
Sophia Langford, the estate's event manager, pushed through the crowd.
Her expression twisted with irritation.
"You had one job tonight."
Emily lowered her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't clean crystal."
Several guests exchanged uncomfortable glances.
Sophia wasn't finished.
"Maybe if you spent less time looking tired and more time paying attention—"
Her gaze dropped to Emily's stomach.
The pregnancy was impossible to hide now.
Seven months.
The room grew even quieter.
Emily felt heat rise into her face.
She hated being looked at that way.
As if her pregnancy were a mistake everyone had permission to judge.
Sophia folded her arms.
"Perhaps you're finally realizing that nobody wants to hire a pregnant maid."
The words landed like a slap.
A few guests looked away.
Others simply watched.
No one intervened.
No one wanted to challenge the woman responsible for managing the Hawthorne Estate's prestigious events.
Emily bent down carefully to collect the broken glass.
A sudden pain shot through her lower back.
She winced.
Immediately, Sophia noticed.
"Oh, don't start."
The humiliation burned.
Emily had worked twelve hours.
She had skipped dinner.
Her feet were blistered because Sophia had ordered her to remove her shoes earlier that evening.
"They don't match the uniform," Sophia had said.
The replacement shoes never arrived.
So Emily worked barefoot.
Across cold marble floors.
For hours.
Now blood from a small cut began appearing on her heel.
Still she kept cleaning.
Because she needed the paycheck.
Because soon she would have a baby.
And because she had nobody else.
At least, that was what everyone believed.
Then a deep voice echoed across the ballroom.
"Why is she barefoot?"
The room instantly became still.
Every guest turned.
The owner of Hawthorne Estate had arrived.
Victor Hawthorne.
The billionaire rarely attended his own parties.
But tonight, he stood at the top of the staircase.
May you like
Watching everything.
And he did not look pleased.
