Chapter 1 - The Birthday Surprise
The white teddy bear slipped from Vincent Hale’s hand before he understood what he was seeing.
Six-year-old Mia was on her knees in the penthouse foyer, dragging an industrial mop across freezing marble. Her overalls were soaked at the knees. A rusty bucket sat beside her. Her fingers were red and blistered.
Vincent had cut his flight short to surprise her on her birthday.
Instead, his daughter looked up with tears in her eyes and a dark bruise across her cheek.
“Daddy?”
Celeste Arden stepped from the sitting room in a white silk robe, wineglass in hand.
“Vincent. You’re early.”
He stared at Mia. “What happened to her face?”
“She fell,” Celeste said. “She spilled juice, threw a tantrum, and refused to clean it.”
“That’s not true,” Mia whispered.
Celeste’s eyes snapped toward her.
Vincent saw it. The fear. The warning.
“Mia, come here.”
She tried to stand and nearly slipped. Vincent crossed the foyer and caught her.
The second he lifted her, she began shaking.
“Daddy,” she whispered into his neck, “she said I’m not really yours.”
Vincent went still.
Celeste sighed. “She’s been saying strange things lately.”
Mia pulled back. “She said Mommy lied to you.”
Grace. Vincent’s wife. Dead for two years.
“Mia, what did Celeste make you clean?”
His daughter pointed toward the floor.
Under the cloudy water, blue marker showed between the tiles.
Three shaky words.
MOM SAID BLUEBIRD.
Vincent stared.
May you like
Celeste’s wineglass slipped from her fingers and shattered.
For the first time, she looked afraid.
