Chapter 1

My husband's housekeeper killed his mother, and he made me kneel and apologize for it.

The new housekeeper was a pretty little idiot. She poured drain cleaner into Dominic's mother, Mrs. Beatrice's washbasin.

The acid hit instantly and Beatrice's face went first, skin and flesh, and she screamed and went down.

When Dominic rushed in, Melanie threw herself into his arms sobbing.

"I saw it online. The formula was supposed to brighten skin and reduce wrinkles. I was just trying to help her, sir. This is all my fault..."

He pulled her closer.

"That's just her bad luck. She couldn't handle nice things. How is that your fault?"

He swept a contemptuous look my way.

"Get your mother cleaned up. Can't you see you're frightening Melanie?"

"Take your grievances outside. Nobody wants to look at your face."

Melanie pulled herself up all fragile and trembling and pressed a slip of paper into my hand. A $10 funeral expense form.

"The sir already said this had nothing to do with me," she said softly. "But she was still your mother. The Bouchard household should cover a proper burial. Please, ma'am, just take it."

I laughed and threw the form in Dominic's face.

"That's yours to keep."

His face went cold and he roared at me.

"Your mom's a nobody. A patch of dirt is more than enough for her. Melanie's being generous. Seraphina, don't push it."

He was already flushed with rage and then he saw the number on the form and his face twitched.

Melanie scrambled to fix it.

"I grabbed the wrong form. I'm so sorry, ma'am, let me get you another one. Please don't fire me."

She rifled through her bag but I was done waiting.

"You idiot. The woman still has a pulse and you're handing me her funeral bill."

"Get out of my way. Both of you."

I called 911 with one hand and waved over Higgins, our driver, with the other to help carry Mrs. Beatrice to the car.

Before I could get the door shut, Melanie grabbed the keys and dove into the driver's seat.

"I'll drive."

She hit the gas and the car slammed into a utility pole.

Mrs. Beatrice was thrown fifteen feet and the back of her head cracked against something sharp and blood came fast.

The one who caused it sat crumpled on the ground crying like a lost child.

"I only wanted to help. I'm so sorry, ma'am. I'm just so stupid..."

I looked at Mrs. Beatrice covered in blood and my fists went tight.

"No license. No permit. Melanie, that's not stupidity. That's attempted murder."

"Seraphina, shut your mouth."

Dominic shoved past me without a glance at his mother and crouched next to Melanie and cupped her hand where a small scratch had formed and blew on it gently, then looked back at me.

"Melanie was trying to help and you're going after her? Get over here and apologize. Now."

I stared at him. "Dominic, your mother is lying on the ground."

He didn't hear me. His eyes were only on Melanie.

The ambulance got there in time and Higgins and I waved the paramedics over.

When they saw Mrs. Beatrice they rushed the stretcher out.

Dominic grabbed them and stopped them cold.

"Turn around."

He swept Melanie up in his arms and laid her on the stretcher meant for his mother.

"Go. Now."

I threw myself in front of the ambulance doors.

"Dominic, your mother is dying. How do you not see what matters here?"

He stood beside Melanie and his voice didn't waver.

"You're the one who can't see clearly."

"Melanie is my personal housekeeper and she's exceptional at what she does. Your mother was a nobody. She doesn't get to take up resources meant for people who matter."

He waved his hand and two bodyguards dragged me back.

Something bitter spread through my chest. That's what she was to him. Nothing.

I watched the ambulance pull away and fought against the grip on my arms and screamed.

"Dominic, that is your mother."

"She drove hours to get here. Just to see you."

He went still and the look in his eyes went hollow.

Dominic lost his father when he was young and it had always been just the two of them. Three years ago when the company finally took off, the first thing he did was bring Mrs. Beatrice to the city.

She never fully settled in and preferred the life she knew back home and rarely stayed with us.

A few days ago when the pressure at work got to him, Dominic called her just to talk and told her he missed her cooking, and the next morning she got in the car without telling anyone wanting to surprise him.

What she got instead was Melanie mocking her clothes and telling her the drain cleaner would "get rid of that farmhouse smell."

Dominic's mouth moved but before he could speak Melanie cut in, tears already forming.

"It's all my fault. I know that. But you can't blame Dominic for something I did."