Chapter 3 - THE SHADOW OF THE EMPIRE
By midnight, the sprawling Reed estate felt less like a home and more like a fortress under siege. Dr. Aris, the family's discrete physician, had taken the swabs. The results were being rushed through a private, secure lab owned by Reed Enterprises. Alexander paced the length of his mahogany-paneled study, a glass of untouched scotch in his hand. The door swung open, and Vanessa, Alexander’s fiancée of six months, stepped in. Clad in a silk robe, her perfectly manicured hands gripped the doorframe tightly. "Alexander, what is going on? The guards aren't letting anyone out. And I hear whispers about the new maid." Alexander didn't look at her. "It's a security protocol, Vanessa. Go back to bed." But Vanessa's eyes narrowed. She had worked tirelessly to secure her position in this house, orchestrating hostile takeovers in the boardroom and carefully managing the household staff to erase the lingering ghost of the first Mrs. Reed. Down the hall, in the guest quarters where she was temporarily confined, Elara sat on the edge of a velvet sofa. Liam was fast asleep with his head in her lap. As she stroked his hair, fragmented memories pierced her mind like shards of glass. A blinding light. The screech of tires. A man standing over the burning wreckage, checking a silver pocket watch before walking away. She didn't remember her name being Elara. She remembered a life ripped away, a forced amnesia fueled by chemical sedatives in a sterile, windowless facility she had only recently escaped. She had taken the housekeeping job just to catch a glimpse of the son she saw in her dreams.
