The maid shoved the pregnant woman down the staircase. For one horrifying second, everyone believed they had just witnessed attempted murder.

Victor’s knife flashed beneath the shattered chandelier.

Emily lay twisted across the bottom steps, one hand gripping the railing and the other pressed protectively against her stomach.

The maid stood between them.

Her name was Elena.

For three years, she had cleaned the Carter mansion without complaint. She had polished Victor’s shoes, carried Emily’s breakfast upstairs, and disappeared whenever important guests entered the room.

Now she faced Victor without lowering her eyes.

“Move,” Victor said.

Elena remained still.

“You already cut the chandelier cable,” she replied. “You’re not getting near her again.”

A murmur moved through the guests.

Victor glanced down.

The wire cutters lay on the marble floor beside his shoe. Silver strands from the chandelier cable remained caught between the blades.

For the first time, his confidence cracked.

“You planted those,” he snapped.

Elena slowly reached beneath the collar of her uniform.

She pulled out a small gold locket.

Emily’s breathing stopped.

She owned an identical one.

Her mother had given it to her before dying and told her there had once been two.

Victor’s face drained of color.

“Elena…” Emily whispered. “Where did you get that?”

The maid looked back at her.

Tears filled Elena’s eyes, but her voice remained steady.

“From our mother.”

Victor lunged.

Before he could reach them, Thomas Reed, the estate’s security director, slammed into him from the side. The knife skidded across the marble as two guests pulled Emily away from the stairs.

Victor fought like a trapped animal.

“You don’t know who she is!” he shouted. “She’s been lying to all of you!”

Elena turned toward Emily.

“My name isn’t Elena Moore,” she said. “My real name is Elena Whitmore.”

Whitmore had been Emily’s name before she married Victor.

Emily stared at her.

“That’s impossible.”

“No,” Elena said softly. “What happened to me was supposed to be impossible.”

Police sirens rose outside the mansion.

Victor suddenly stopped struggling.

A strange smile crossed his face.

“You think finding each other changes anything?” he asked. “By sunrise, one of you will be dead.”