“You’re done,” Jary cut in. “Pack your things. You leave tonight.”
“You can’t do that,” Clare shouted. “You can’t throw me out like trash!”
Jary kept his voice low. “Do you want me to call the police too?” he asked. “Do you want them to watch that video?”
Clare froze.
The door opened and two security men stepped in.
Jary pointed at Clare. “Stay here,” he said. “Watch her pack. Don’t let her near the twins.”
Clare let out a sharp laugh, eyes darting toward the camera on the wall again.
“You think you’re smart,” she said. “But you don’t even know what your own system shows.”
Jary’s stomach tightened.
“What did you do?” he asked.
Clare’s smile widened. “Nothing,” she said. “I just know where to stand.”
Jary didn’t like that answer.
He walked out and went downstairs fast.
Olivia was still in the kitchen. Noah and Eli slept on the couch like two small storms finally settled.
Jary’s voice came out low. “She’s leaving tonight.”
Olivia exhaled like she’d been holding her breath for two weeks. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Jary looked at the twins, then at Olivia. “Where did you learn to handle babies like that?” he asked.
Olivia hesitated, then spoke softly. “I raised my little brother after our mother died,” she said. “I learned because nobody else did.”
Jary nodded once, weight gathering behind his eyes. “I should’ve learned too,” he said.
Olivia’s gaze didn’t soften out of pity. It softened out of understanding. “You can still learn,” she said. “But you have to be here.”
A suitcase bumped upstairs.
Olivia tensed.
Jary stood. “I’ll handle it,” he said. “You stay with them.”
Olivia nodded. “I will.”
That night, Jary didn’t go back to his office.
He didn’t even go to his bedroom.
He sat in the kitchen, jacket off, tie loosened, watching Noah and Eli breathe like their lungs were the only thing keeping him honest.
Olivia sat across from him, hands folded, eyes fixed on the twins, listening for any sound in the hallway.
Jary’s phone buzzed around midnight.
Unknown number.
A photo loaded onto his screen.
It was Olivia in the kitchen with the twins strapped to her, taken from an angle that wasn’t any camera he owned. Not one.
Below the photo were five words:
Everyone will see this tomorrow.
Jary’s blood ran cold.
Olivia saw his face change. “What is it?” she asked.
Jary turned the screen toward her.
Olivia’s hand flew to her mouth.
“She did this,” Olivia whispered. “She wants to ruin me.”
“She wants you scared,” Jary said, voice steady even as his hands shook. “And she wants me panicking into the wrong move.”
Olivia’s voice cracked. “People will believe it.”
“Not if we move with proof,” Jary said. “Not if we stay calm.”
“Truth is slow,” Olivia whispered.
“Lies move fast,” Jary agreed. Then he lifted his phone and made calls. His head of security. His lawyer. A pediatric doctor to come at sunrise.
Upstairs, the service door camera suddenly went dark.
Not the app freezing. Not a glitch.
Dark.
Jary noticed it when he checked again.
His stomach dropped.
Something was happening in his house while he sat ten feet from his sleeping sons.
And for the first time in his life, money didn’t make him feel powerful.
It made him feel late.
Morning came like a bruise turning yellow.
Dr. Harris arrived early and examined the twins with careful hands and a face that didn’t flinch.
“These are grab marks,” she said finally. “Not a fall. Not normal play.”
Jary swallowed hard. “Write it down,” he said.
Dr. Harris nodded. “And you need a specialist,” she added. “Babies remember rough hands.”
After she left, the penthouse started buzzing in a different way.
Jary’s assistant called, voice frantic. “Sir, there’s a post spreading. That photo. People are saying…”
“I know,” Jary said. “Tell the board I’ll join their call.”
“Sir, they want a statement. They want you to put the maid on leave.”
Jary’s jaw tightened. “No,” he said. “I’m not hiding her like a problem.”
He hung up, turned to Olivia, and spoke quietly. “Don’t open the door for anyone today,” he said. “Not alone.”
Olivia nodded, eyes glossy. “Do you think police will come for me?”
“I think she will try,” Jary said. “But she’s going to meet the truth this time.”
An hour later, a knock hit the front door.
Hard.
See more on the next page
Advertisement
