Chapter 4 - THE SHADOW OVER THE CELEBRATION
As the evening wore on, the alcohol flowed, and the volume of the crowd swelled. Elena was on duty, circulating with a tray of hors d'oeuvres, constantly checking on Lily, who was happily coloring at her little table in the solarium.
Mrs. Donnelly stood guard near the child, but the household manager was eventually called away to deal with a crisis in the kitchen. For a brief ten minutes, Lily was alone, happily talking to her stuffed rabbit, Mr. Bun.
Victoria saw her opening.
She drifted through the crowd, signaling her closest friends—a trio of equally vicious heiresses—to follow her. “Come, darlings,” Victoria purred. “Let’s go wish the help a happy birthday.”
When Elena emerged from the kitchen, she couldn't find her daughter in the solarium. Panic seized her throat. She pushed through the sea of tuxedos and silk gowns, her eyes frantically scanning the crowd.
She found Lily in the center of the grand ballroom.
Somehow, Victoria had coaxed the child out of the safe zone. Lily stood clutching her little stack of presents, looking up at Victoria with wide, innocent eyes. The surrounding guests had formed a circle, their conversations dying down as they watched the strange tableau: the radiant, emerald-clad fiancée looming over the tiny, poorly dressed child of the hired help.
“Oh, look at this,” Victoria said, her voice amplified in the sudden quiet of the room. She snatched the top present from Lily’s hands. It was the gift from Mrs. Donnelly. “Did someone leave their garbage in the ballroom?”
“That’s mine,” Lily squeaked, stepping forward.
“Yours?” Victoria laughed. It was a sharp, ugly sound. “Sweetheart, things like this don’t belong in a house like this. And neither do you.”
Elena broke through the crowd, her heart in her throat. “Lily!”
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But she was too late to stop what happened next.
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