Chapter 1
“THROW THAT FILTHY TEDDY BEAR INTO THE FIRE!” THE MAFIA BOSS'S FIANCÉE SCREAMED, SNATCHING THE TOY FROM HIS SIX-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER'S MAID. BUT WHEN THE MAID PLACED A TINY RECORDING DEVICE ON THE TABLE, THE FIANCÉE TURNED WHITE. THE LITTLE BEAR HAD RECORDED WHAT SHE'D BEEN DOING TO HIS DAUGHTER BEHIND LOCKED DOORS.
“Give me that bear!”
Vanessa Sterling lunged across the living room.
Sophie Bennett, the twenty-four-year-old housemaid, instinctively stepped backward.
She was holding a worn brown teddy bear with one missing button eye.
It belonged to six-year-old Emma Moretti.
“Mrs. Sterling, please. It's Emma's favorite toy.”
Vanessa grabbed its arm.
“I don't care!”
She yanked it from Sophie's hands.
Across the room, a fire roared inside the marble fireplace.
Vanessa marched toward it.
“I TOLD YOU TO THROW THIS THING AWAY!”
Sophie hurried after her.
“Please don't! Emma can't sleep without it!”
Vanessa turned.
“Then she'll learn!”
She raised the teddy bear toward the flames.
“VANESSA!”
A deep voice thundered from the doorway.
Dominic Moretti stood at the entrance.
He had returned home earlier than expected.
His black suit was still damp from the rain.
His eyes moved from Vanessa to the teddy bear dangling above the fire.
“What are you doing?”
Vanessa froze.
Then forced a smile.
“Darling! I was just getting rid of some old toys.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“That's Emma's bear.”
Vanessa shrugged.
“She's six. It's time she stopped sleeping with baby toys.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Put it down.”
“Dominic, honestly—”
“NOW.”
Vanessa reluctantly lowered the bear.
Sophie reached for it.
But Vanessa pulled it away.
“No. This thing is going in the fire.”
Dominic caught her wrist before she could throw it.
“Give it to Sophie.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“Are you seriously taking a maid's side over mine?”
Dominic removed the bear from her hand.
“I'm protecting my daughter's belongings.”
He handed it to Sophie.
The young maid hugged it against her chest.
“Thank you, sir.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“You have no idea what she's been doing!”
Dominic looked at her.
“What?”
“She's turning Emma against me!”
Sophie lowered her eyes.
“That's not true, ma'am.”
“SHUT UP!”
Dominic stepped between them.
“Don't speak to her like that.”
Vanessa's face twisted with anger.
“She keeps telling Emma that I'm cruel! She's filling that child's head with lies!”
Dominic slowly turned toward Sophie.
“Is that true?”
The maid hesitated.
Then quietly answered:
“No, sir.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Of course she'd deny it!”
Sophie looked down at the teddy bear.
Then took a slow breath.
“Mr. Moretti… there's something you need to hear.”
Vanessa's expression changed.
“What?”
Sophie gently placed the teddy bear on the sofa.
Then reached into her apron pocket.
She removed a tiny black recording device.
And placed it on the coffee table.
Vanessa went completely white.
“WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?”
Sophie looked directly at her.
“YOU'RE TOO LATE, MA'AM.”
Dominic stared at the device.
“What is that?”
Sophie swallowed.
“It's a voice recorder, sir.”
Vanessa lunged toward the table.
“GIVE IT TO ME!”
Dominic caught her arm.
“Stop.”
Vanessa struggled.
“Dominic, she recorded private conversations!”
Sophie shook her head.
“I didn't record them, sir.”
Dominic turned.
“Then who did?”
The maid's eyes filled with tears.
“Emma.”
The room fell silent.
Dominic stared.
“My daughter?”
Sophie nodded.
“Her grandmother gave her the recorder for bedtime stories. Emma hid it inside her teddy bear.”
Vanessa backed away.
Dominic looked at the worn toy.
He remembered Emma refusing to go anywhere without it.
Even during dinner.
Even when Vanessa complained.
He had thought it was simply a child's attachment.
Now he understood why Vanessa had been so desperate to destroy it.
Dominic picked up the recorder.
“What's on it?”
Sophie whispered:
“The reason Emma cries whenever you leave the house.”
Vanessa began shaking.
“Dominic, please don't listen.”
He pressed play.
For a moment, there was only static.
Then a small voice.
“Vanessa? Can I come downstairs?”
Emma.
Dominic froze.
A second voice answered.
Vanessa's.
“No. Your father has important guests. Stay in your room.”
“But Daddy promised we'd have dinner together.”
“Your father doesn't have time for you tonight.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
Then came the sound of a door closing.
A lock turning.
Click.
Emma's frightened voice followed.
“Vanessa? Please don't lock it.”
Vanessa replied:
“Then stop bothering everyone.”
A small sob.
“I want Daddy.”
Then Vanessa said something that made Dominic's blood run cold.
“IF YOU TELL YOUR FATHER, I'LL MAKE SURE HE SENDS YOU AWAY.”
The recording ended.
Nobody moved.
Dominic slowly lowered the device.
He looked at Vanessa.
“You locked my daughter in her bedroom?”
Vanessa forced a laugh.
“Dominic, she's exaggerating!”
He held up the recorder.
“THAT WAS YOUR VOICE.”
“She was misbehaving!”
“She's six years old.”
“She needs discipline!”
Dominic's expression became frighteningly calm.
“YOU THREATENED TO TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME.”
Vanessa stepped backward.
“I never meant it!”
Sophie quietly spoke.
“Sir, Emma believed her.”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
The maid's voice trembled.
“She started asking me whether you still loved her.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
He remembered his daughter becoming unusually quiet over the past few months.
How she'd stopped running to greet him after work.
How she'd begun asking permission to sit beside him.
He'd thought she was growing older.
Now his heart broke.
“Where is she?”
Sophie pointed upstairs.
“In her bedroom, sir.”
Dominic immediately headed toward the staircase.
Vanessa grabbed his sleeve.
“Dominic, please! Don't let a child's recording destroy our relationship!”
He turned.
“OUR RELATIONSHIP?”
His voice echoed through the room.
“YOU MADE MY DAUGHTER AFRAID TO SPEAK IN HER OWN HOME!”
Vanessa released him.
Dominic climbed the stairs.
Sophie followed, carrying the teddy bear.
At the end of the hallway, Dominic stopped outside Emma's bedroom.
He gently knocked.
“Princess?”
No answer.
He opened the door.
Emma sat curled up on her bed, hugging a pillow.
When she saw him, her eyes widened.
“Daddy?”
Dominic knelt beside her.
“Come here, sweetheart.”
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
“Am I in trouble?”
His chest tightened.
“No, baby. Never.”
Emma looked toward the doorway.
“Vanessa said I wasn't supposed to come downstairs.”
Dominic opened his arms.
“Come here.”
Emma rushed into them.
He held her tightly.
“I'm sorry, princess.”
She began crying.
“Daddy, I tried to be good.”
“I know.”
“I didn't want you to send me away.”
Dominic kissed her forehead.
“NOBODY IS EVER SENDING YOU AWAY.”
Emma clung to him.
Sophie stood in the doorway, wiping her tears.
Dominic gently pulled back.
“Sweetheart, did Vanessa lock your door?”
Emma nodded.
“Sometimes.”
Dominic froze.
“Sometimes?”
Emma looked at Sophie.
Then whispered:
“When you had meetings.”
He swallowed.
“How often?”
Emma lowered her eyes.
“I don't remember.”
Sophie stepped forward.
“Sir… the recorder remembers.”
Dominic slowly turned.
“What do you mean?”
Sophie held up the device.
“Emma pressed record whenever she was scared.”
Dominic looked down.
There were dozens of audio files.
Not one.
Not two.
Dozens.
His hands began trembling.
He selected another recording.
Emma's voice filled the room.
“Please let me out. I need the bathroom.”
Vanessa replied:
“Then you should've thought about that before interrupting dinner.”
Dominic stopped the recording.
His face drained of color.
He looked at Sophie.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
The maid's eyes filled with tears.
“I tried, sir. Mrs. Sterling said she'd fire me if I interfered.”
Dominic looked at Emma.
She was trembling against his chest.
He gently picked her up.
“Come on, princess.”
He carried her downstairs.
Vanessa was still standing beside the fireplace.
When she saw the recorder in Dominic's hand, her expression changed.
“Dominic…”
He placed Emma gently beside Sophie.
Then faced his fiancée.
“HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU DO THIS TO MY DAUGHTER?”
Vanessa backed away.
“Dominic, please…”
He stepped closer.
“HOW MANY TIMES?”
She began crying.
“I was only trying to teach her to behave!”
Dominic looked at the recorder.
Dozens of files.
Dozens of nights.
Dozens of moments his daughter had been frightened while he believed she was safe.
He turned toward Sophie.
“Take Emma somewhere she feels safe.”
Sophie nodded.
Emma grabbed her father's hand.
“Daddy?”
He knelt.
“Yes, princess?”
The little girl looked toward Vanessa.
Then whispered:
“DADDY… THERE'S ONE RECORDING I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO HEAR.”
Dominic froze.
“Why not, sweetheart?”
Emma's eyes filled with tears.
“Because Vanessa said if you heard it…”
Her voice broke.
“YOU'D FIND OUT WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO MOMMY.”
Dominic stopped breathing.
His wife, Isabella, had died three years earlier.
Vanessa had been the last person to see her alive.
And suddenly, the teddy bear in Sophie's hands felt heavier than anything Dominic had ever held.
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Read Chapter 2 in the first comment to discover what Emma secretly recorded about her mother's final night—and why Vanessa was willing to burn the little girl's favorite teddy bear to keep it hidden. Thank you for reading!
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