Chapter 1 - The Blow on the Marble Floor
A heavy bronze horse statue slammed directly into Clara Reed’s ribs with a sickening thud.
The blunt blow knocked the breath right out of her lungs, sending her crashing onto the cold marble floor of the grand luxury foyer of the Vale mansion. A heavy metal cleaning bucket overturned on impact, sloshing soapy water across the polished floor, soaking her pink and white maid dress and trailing around her white apron.
Four-year-old Noah Vale stood clutching his dark long-sleeved pajamas, his little bare feet dripping wet on the marble. His face was flushed with blind, defensive fury, his tiny chest heaving as he held his fists up tightly.
Behind him, towering bodyguards in black suits stiffened, reaching instinctively for their sidearms before freezing in place.
“Noah! Stop right now!”
A commanding, deep voice thundered down from the sweeping double staircase above. Dominic Vale descended the steps with lethal grace. Broad, towering, and imposing in an unbuttoned white dress shirt with rolled-up sleeves and dark trousers, his face was carved from granite.
Clara clutched her side, gasping softly through the searing pain in her ribs.
Instead of screaming, fleeing, or retreating in anger, Clara slowly lowered herself completely onto her knees in the cold soapy water. She looked gently at the trembling toddler, her long dark wavy hair tied back with a pink ribbon spilling over her shoulder.
May you like
“It’s okay,” Clara said in a calm, soft voice, reaching her pale hand out slowly toward the panicked boy. “You don’t have to hurt anyone to be heard.”
👉 Dominic reached the bottom of the grand staircase, his massive frame stepping directly behind Clara as his cold, penetrating gaze locked onto her kneeling figure.
