Chapter 1 - The Unexpected Fall

Emily Reed kept one hand on the polished banister as she descended the staircase.

At almost eight months pregnant, even crossing the enormous Reed entry hall had become something she did carefully. Her dusty-blue maternity dress brushed her ankles. One hand rested beneath her stomach as the baby shifted.

She was halfway down when she heard Sophia behind her.

“Emily.”

Emily glanced over one shoulder.

Michael’s younger sister stood several steps above her in a cream blouse and dark trousers.

“What?”

Sophia’s expression was strangely calm.

“You should have taken my advice.”

Emily frowned.

“What advice?”

“To leave before Michael came home.”

Emily turned more fully.

“Sophia, I’m not having this argument again.”

She faced forward.

That was when Sophia grabbed her upper arm.

Emily gasped.

“Sophia—”

The shove came hard and without warning.

Emily lost the banister.

Her pregnant body struck the first stair.

Then another.

Pain exploded through her shoulder.

Her hip slammed against polished wood.

She rolled down several steps before crashing onto the lower landing.

For several seconds, Emily could not breathe.

Then instinct took over.

She curled around her belly.

“My baby…”

Above her, Sophia stared.

Not horrified.

Watching.

Footsteps sounded from the entry hall.

Sophia immediately dropped onto the upper landing.

She clutched her own shoulder.

Then she began sobbing.

Michael Reed appeared through the foyer, still carrying the travel bag he had brought home from the airport.

“Sophia?”

She pointed toward Emily.

“MICHAEL! SHE PUSHED ME!”

Michael looked up.

Sophia appeared injured.

Then he looked down.

Emily was struggling to sit up.

He rushed toward her.

For one desperate second, she thought he understood.

“Michael—”

His face was furious.

“YOU PUT YOUR HANDS ON MY SISTER?”

“No! She—”

He slapped her.

Hard.

Emily’s head snapped sideways.

Her shoulder hit the banister.

Michael immediately stopped.

There was no second blow.

But one had been enough.

Emily slowly turned back.

One hand covered her burning cheek.

The other protected her belly.

Her eyes filled.

“You hit me before you even asked what happened.”

Michael’s anger flickered.

Behind him, Sophia’s fake crying stopped.

Only for a second.

She looked directly at Emily.

And smiled.

Small.

Cruel.

Triumphant.

Then footsteps sounded from above.

“Dad?”

Everyone looked.

Seven-year-old Mason stood halfway down the staircase.

His brown hair was disheveled.

His face was pale.

His small hand shook as he raised one finger.

“Dad… look at the camera above the stairs.”

Michael followed his gaze.

A small security camera sat near the ceiling.

Its red recording light blinked steadily.

Sophia stopped crying instantly.

She stepped backward.

Color drained from her face.

Michael looked at her.

Then noticed something else.

Sophia was no longer holding her supposedly injured shoulder.

Both arms hung naturally at her sides.

Sophia realized her mistake.

Too late.

Her hand slowly crept back toward the shoulder.

Michael watched every inch of the movement.

His certainty collapsed.

“Sophia.”

She swallowed.

“Michael, listen—”

Emily suddenly gasped.

Pain tightened across her abdomen.

Michael turned.

“Emily?”

She stared down.

A dark spot was spreading across the lower part of her dress.

Michael’s face changed.

“Oh God.”

Mason started crying.

“Mom?”

Michael dropped beside Emily.

“Don’t move.”

She pulled away from him.

“Don’t touch me.”

Those four words hit harder than any accusation.

Michael froze.

Sophia began backing toward the hallway.

Mason saw her.

“Aunt Sophia pushed her.”

Silence.

Michael slowly looked over his shoulder.

Mason’s voice trembled.

“I saw everything.”

Sophia stopped.

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Mason, you were upstairs.”

“I was watching.”

Sophia’s expression hardened.

Michael rose.

“Stay exactly where you are.”

He grabbed his phone and called emergency services.

Emily squeezed her eyes shut as another wave of pain moved through her.

Michael knelt several feet away, afraid even to reach toward her now.

“Emily, ambulance is coming.”

She looked at him.

Her cheek was still red from his hand.

“You believed her.”

Michael had no answer.

Sirens approached outside.

Sophia glanced toward the camera again.

Her fear deepened.

Not merely because it had captured the shove.

Michael saw that too.

He followed her stare.

“What else is on that camera?”

Sophia said nothing.

Mason wiped his face.

“She came here last night too.”

Michael turned sharply.

“You said Aunt Sophia was in Boston.”

Mason shook his head.

“She was in your office.”

Sophia whispered, “Mason, stop.”

But the boy looked at his father.

“She was looking for the red folder Mom hid.”

Michael’s expression changed.

Emily opened her eyes.

She had never told Mason where she placed that folder.

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More importantly, Sophia was not supposed to know it existed at all.

Why had Sophia risked hurting Emily and her unborn baby to find a folder she was never supposed to know about?