Chapter 2 - THE FATHER WHO CAME HOMEChadworth didn't remember crossing the security room.
One moment he was staring at the monitor, and the next he was standing in the hallway with Marcus rushing behind him.
“Sir, please think carefully.”
“I have thought carefully for too long.”
“Let me get the girls away from her before you confront anyone.”
That stopped him.
For the first time that morning, Chadworth understood the difference between anger and responsibility.
Anger wanted him to storm into the living room and make Sabina feel the terror he had just witnessed.
Responsibility demanded that his daughters never experience another moment of it.
He turned toward Marcus.
“Keep the recordings secure. Preserve everything from this morning. Don't allow anyone to edit or delete a single second.”
“Understood.”
“And call my personal attorney. Not anyone from Prescott Meridian.”
Marcus nodded.
“Cora Bennett?”
“Yes. Tell her it's an emergency.”
Chadworth then walked toward the living room.
Behind the partially closed doors, Sabina was still speaking.
“I want both girls upstairs. And Rosamund, start packing your things. You're finished here.”
Chadworth pushed the doors open.
“She's not going anywhere.”
Every face turned.
Sabina went motionless.
For a second, her expression was almost comical. The elegant woman who had always controlled her reactions looked as though someone had pulled the floor out from beneath her.
“Chadworth?”
He stepped inside.
“Hello, Sabina.”
“But you're supposed to be—”
“In Canada?”
He shook his head.
“There was no trip.”
Lorelai stood up so quickly that her book fell from her lap.
“Daddy?”
Chadworth's anger dissolved at the sound of her voice.
He crouched and opened his arms.
Both girls ran to him.
Gemma collided with his chest, and Lorelai wrapped herself around his shoulders.
He held them tightly.
For years, he had assumed his daughters were growing independent because they no longer ran to him the way they once had.
Now he understood that children sometimes stop asking for comfort because they've learned not to expect it.
“I'm here,” he whispered.
Gemma clung harder.
“Are you really staying?”
The question almost broke him.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
“You promise?”
Chadworth closed his eyes.
“I promise.”
Sabina recovered enough to approach them.
“Darling, I can explain.”
“Stay where you are.”
His voice wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
Sabina froze.
“You've misunderstood something. Rosamund has been poisoning the girls against me. I was trying to establish boundaries.”
“I watched you.”
Her face drained.
“Watched me?”
“The cameras.”
Sabina glanced toward the ceiling.
Chadworth saw her calculating.
He had watched her do the same thing during difficult social engagements. She would study a situation, identify the person with the most influence, and adjust her behavior accordingly.
But there was nobody left to impress.
“Those recordings don't show everything,” she said.
“They showed enough.”
“Chadworth, please. You know I love your daughters.”
Lorelai flinched.
That tiny movement settled something inside him.
He stood, keeping Gemma close.
“Go upstairs with Rosamund, girls.”
Neither child moved.
“It's all right,” he assured them. “Nobody is getting in trouble for telling the truth.”
Lorelai looked toward Sabina.
“Even if we say something bad about her?”
Chadworth felt ashamed that his daughter needed permission to be honest.
“Especially then.”
Rosamund approached carefully.
“Come on, girls. We'll make some hot chocolate.”
Gemma reached for her rabbit.
Sabina's hand moved toward it first.
Chadworth stepped between them.
“Leave it.”
Sabina stared at him.
“Are you seriously choosing a housekeeper over the woman you're going to marry?”
“No.”
For one brief instant, hope returned to her eyes.
“I'm choosing my daughters.”
Sabina's expression hardened.
“You're making a mistake.”
“I've already made several.”
He looked toward the staircase where Rosamund was gently leading the girls away.
“My biggest mistake was believing that providing this house meant I was providing a home.”
Sabina lowered her voice.
“You're going to regret humiliating me.”
Chadworth turned toward Marcus, who had just entered.
“Please arrange for Miss Voss to collect her personal belongings and leave.”
“Chadworth!”
“Have my attorney handle any remaining property or access arrangements.”
“You can't simply throw me away!”
He looked at her without raising his voice.
“You didn't hesitate to threaten two children who had already lost their mother.”
For the first time, Sabina had no answer.
She marched toward the stairs, but Marcus gently blocked her path.
“Miss Voss, your belongings can be brought down.”
Her eyes flashed with hatred.
“You have no idea what you're starting.”
Chadworth studied her.
“Then perhaps you should tell me.”
Sabina looked toward the security cameras again.
A strange smile touched her lips.
“You think a few recordings make you powerful? Those girls will ruin you before this is over.”
She collected her handbag and walked out.
Chadworth watched until the front doors closed.
Only then did he realize his hands were shaking.
Upstairs, he found his daughters sitting on Lorelai's bed.
Rosamund was beside them, holding two cups of hot chocolate.
When Chadworth appeared, she stood immediately.
“Mr. Prescott, I should explain—”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I'm the one who owes you an explanation.”
Rosamund looked uncertain.
“I should have listened when you tried to speak to me.”
Her eyes filled.
“I tried, sir.”
“I know.”
“No, Mr. Prescott. I mean I really tried.”
She crossed the room and opened a drawer.
Inside was a plain spiral notebook.
Page after page contained dates, times, and carefully written descriptions.
Sabina screaming at Gemma.
Sabina refusing to allow Lorelai to call her father.
Sabina threatening Rosamund's employment.
Sabina demanding the girls repeat stories that hadn't happened.
Chadworth turned a page.
Another.
Another.
“How long?”
“Since shortly after Miss Voss began staying here.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I sent messages to your office. I requested private meetings. Twice I was told you didn't have time. Then Miss Voss warned me that if I continued making accusations, she'd make sure I never worked in another household.”
Chadworth stared at the notebook.
He remembered those weeks.
He had been busy closing a merger.
He had canceled family dinners.
He had ignored messages labeled routine household concerns.
While he congratulated himself on securing his daughters' financial future, someone was making their childhood unbearable.
Cora Bennett arrived forty minutes later.
Chadworth met her in his study and played the surveillance footage.
She watched without interruption.
When the recording ended, she removed her glasses.
“We need to protect the girls first, preserve the evidence, and speak with the appropriate authorities.”
“I want Sabina investigated.”
“She will be.”
“And Elliott Crane?”
Cora's expression sharpened.
“Why Elliott?”
Chadworth replayed the telephone conversation.
This time, Cora stood very still.
“Don't contact Crane,” she said when it ended.
“Why?”
“Because if Sabina is telling the truth, you're dealing with something much larger than domestic cruelty.”
She opened her briefcase.
“I came here because your office forwarded me an unusual document yesterday.”
She placed several pages on his desk.
Chadworth recognized his company letterhead.
At the top were the words:
TEMPORARY EMERGENCY CAREGIVER AUTHORIZATION
Beneath the heading were Lorelai's and Gemma's full names.
The document supposedly gave Sabina Voss authority to remove them from the family residence and enroll them in a residential behavioral treatment program.
It was dated four days earlier.
At the bottom was a signature.
His signature.
Chadworth stared.
“I never authorized this.”
Cora's expression remained grave.
“Then someone has forged your name.”
May you like
She turned to the final page.
“And according to the attached intake notice, the girls were scheduled to be transferred tonight.”
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