“The Billionaire Thought He Was Going Deaf—Then a 3-Year-Old Signed the Truth”

The greenhouse door was open.

Warm, wet air rolled over me. The emergency lights turned every leaf blood-red.

Vanessa stood near the fountain, gun in one hand, Mrs. Alvarez in the other.

"You came," she said.

"Let her go."

"The papers."

I held up the envelope.

Vanessa smiled. "You know, I liked you when Nathan hired you. Quiet. Grateful. Invisible."

"Funny. People keep making that mistake."

Her smile vanished.

"Put it on the table."

I did.

Mrs. Alvarez looked at me. Very slightly, she shook her head.

Vanessa opened the envelope, scanned the pages, then pulled a lighter from her pocket.

"That's it?" I asked. "Forty million dollars?"

"You think this is about insurance?"

The lighter clicked.

"It's about control."

She set the copies on fire.

I watched them curl black.

"What did you give him?"

"A medication that causes temporary auditory distortion at low doses. Confusion at higher ones. Nothing dramatic. Nothing anyone would question in an overworked man with a family history of neurological problems."

"You poisoned him."

"I managed him."

Mrs. Alvarez suddenly stomped Vanessa's foot.

The gun swung.

I lunged.

The shot shattered a glass panel over my head.

I hit Vanessa hard enough to drive us both into a planter. Mrs. Alvarez ran for the door. Vanessa grabbed my hair and smashed my face against the tile.

"You stupid little maid," she hissed.

I bit her wrist.

She screamed and dropped the gun.

I reached for it.

A boot stepped on my hand.

Daniel Cross.

He picked up the weapon and pointed it at my chest.

"Enough."

Vanessa wiped blood from her mouth. "Where are the originals?"

I laughed because if I didn't, I might cry.

"Burned."

Cross crouched beside me. "Your daughter is observant. That's a dangerous gift."