Chapter 6 - THE BILLIONAIRE CAME HOME EARLY
Monday afternoon. The sun hung low over the South Carolina coastline, casting long, golden shadows across the estate.
Amara had returned to work, her stomach in knots. She needed the paycheck, but she was terrified of what Vanessa would do next. Fortunately, Vanessa was supposedly at a bridal fitting downtown and wasn't expected back until sunset. Daniel was at the office. The house was quiet.
Amara was in the master suite, changing the heavy duvet cover. The door clicked shut behind her.
She turned to see Vanessa standing there. She wasn't at a bridal fitting. She had returned early.
"Ms. Hale," Amara said, her voice tight. "I thought you were in the city."
"And let you have free reign of my house?" Vanessa sneered, locking the bedroom door. "I don't think so."
Vanessa walked toward her, pulling a pair of fabric scissors from her designer handbag. Amara backed up against the wall, her eyes darting to the weapon.
"What are you doing?" Amara demanded.
"Daniel made me look like a fool on Thursday," Vanessa hissed, her pristine facade completely unraveling. "He embarrassed me in front of the police. He protected you. A nobody. A dirty little maid with a bastard child."
Amara’s maternal instincts flared, overriding her fear. "Do not talk about my daughter."
"I'll talk about whatever I want!" Vanessa snapped. She threw the scissors onto the bed. "Take them."
"What?"
"Pick them up, Amara. Cut the duvet. Slash the curtains. Destroy the room." Vanessa smiled, a psychotic gleam in her eye. "If you don't, I will. And then I’ll call Daniel and tell him I walked in on you having a violent mental breakdown. With your history? A struggling single mother snapping under the pressure? The cops will take you away in a straitjacket."
Amara shook her head, tears of frustration burning her eyes. "Why are you doing this? I have never done anything to you!"
"Because he looks at you!" Vanessa screamed, her mask finally shattering. "He talks to you! He respects you! He treats me like a porcelain doll he bought, but he actually listens to you! You're a peasant, Amara. And it's time you learn your place."
Vanessa reached for the scissors herself, raising them toward the expensive silk curtains.
"Vanessa."
The voice was terrifyingly calm.
Vanessa froze. Amara gasped.
May you like
Daniel was standing in the doorway connecting the master bathroom to the bedroom. He had come home early. He had been standing in the shadows of the bathroom the entire time.
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