Chapter 3 - Grace’s Warning
Grace had worked in our home for three years.
She was careful, loyal, and almost painfully discreet.
When she asked to speak privately, I assumed something had happened with another staff member.
Instead, she closed the kitchen door and whispered:
“Mr. Carter brings a woman here when you’re gone.”
I stared at her.
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You must have misunderstood.”
Grace’s eyes filled with tears.
“She sleeps in your room.”
The words felt too ugly to enter my mind.
I asked who the woman was.
Grace said she did not know her last name.
Only Vanessa.
She arrived through the service entrance after most staff were dismissed.
She wore my clothes.
Used my bathroom.
Once, she ordered Grace to replace my photographs before Ethan noticed they had been moved.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I tried.”
Grace lowered her eyes.
“Mr. Carter said if I spoke to you, he would report me for stealing jewelry.”
I knew immediately which jewelry she meant.
A diamond bracelet had disappeared three months earlier.
Ethan suggested a staff member might have taken it.
The bracelet reappeared inside my safe two days later.
At the time, I blamed myself for overlooking it.
Now I understood.
The missing bracelet had been a rehearsal.
A warning designed for Grace.
I still wanted to believe there was another explanation.
Grace took my hand.
May you like
“If you want proof, wear my uniform.”
That was how I entered my own mansion disguised as someone Ethan had trained himself not to see.
