Chapter 1 - She Slipped
“DAD—HELP ME!”
Emma’s scream cut through the ballroom before the music stopped.
I looked up just in time to see my seven-year-old daughter standing three steps from the top of the marble staircase, one hand reaching for the railing.
A hard shove between Emma’s shoulder blades.
Emma pitched forward.
“EMMA!”
I ran.
Her small body struck the steps once, twice, then rolled toward the landing. I dropped beside her before anyone else moved.
“Baby, look at me.”
Her eyes opened.
“Dad…”
“I’m here.”
“Don’t move. Somebody call 911.”
I looked up.
Claire had come down three steps.
Her face was pale, but not horrified.
Careful.
“She slipped,” she said.
I stared at her.
I had seen the push.
“Say that again.”
Claire swallowed.
“She slipped.”
Emma whimpered against my arm.
Three days earlier, I had found a board resolution in my office printer tray.
It was dated for the following Monday.
It suspended me as CEO of Sterling Medical Systems for “conduct creating an immediate reputational and fiduciary threat.”
The strange part wasn’t that someone wanted me removed.
The strange part was the attachment.
A draft press statement.
MICHAEL STERLING STEPS ASIDE AFTER DISTURBING FAMILY INCIDENT AT PRIVATE GALA.
At the time, I thought it was a mistake.
Now my daughter was lying on marble steps while my wife calmly lied about how she got there.
The paramedics arrived six minutes later.
As they lifted Emma onto a stretcher, she grabbed my sleeve.
“Dad.”
“I’m right here.”
Her lips trembled.
“She told me not to tell you about the paper.”
I leaned closer.
“What paper?”
Emma’s eyes moved toward Claire.
May you like
Claire was already staring at us.
Then my daughter whispered, “The one with your name crossed out.”
