CHAPTER 1: THE CRY THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN HEARD
The cry echoed through the marble halls like something that did not belong inside a mansion built for kings.
It wasn't loud.
It wasn't dramatic.
It was the exhausted, broken cry of a child who no longer had enough strength to scream.
Lily froze.
The silver tray slipped from her trembling hands, crashing against the polished floor. Crystal glasses shattered in every direction, but she barely heard them.
Her eyes were fixed on the center of the foyer.
Little Ethan.
Only fourteen months old.
His tiny body was sprawled across the cold white marble, tears streaming down his cheeks as he struggled to crawl away.
He couldn't.
One tiny wrist was trapped inside Serena Montigue's hand.
She wasn't simply holding him.
She was dragging him.
Slowly.
Coldly.
As though she wanted him to feel every inch of pain.
"No..."
Lily's whisper escaped before she realized she'd spoken.
Serena turned her head.
Perfect makeup.
Perfect smile.
Not a single strand of blonde hair out of place.
If someone had taken a photograph at that exact moment, Serena would have looked like the picture-perfect socialite featured on magazine covers every month.
Only Lily saw what hid beneath that smile.
Pure cruelty.
Ethan cried again.
A weak, desperate sound.
His tiny fingers clawed helplessly against the smooth marble, searching for something... anything... to stop the relentless pulling.
Instead, his shoulder twisted unnaturally.
A sickening pop echoed through the foyer.
Lily felt her blood run cold.
"No!"
She sprinted forward without thinking.
Her body reacted before her mind could.
She had spent six months caring for Ethan.
Six months feeding him.
Bathing him.
Rocking him to sleep during endless nights when nightmares stole his rest.
She knew every smile.
Every laugh.
Every tiny expression.
She loved him more deeply than she had ever intended.
Seeing him suffer felt like watching someone tear her own heart apart.
She never reached him.
Serena's heel struck Lily's stomach with brutal precision.
The impact folded Lily in half.
The air exploded from her lungs.
She flew backward and slammed into one of the marble columns supporting the grand staircase.
Pain shot through her ribs.
For several terrifying seconds, she couldn't breathe.
The world spun.
Still...
She looked only at Ethan.
His crying had changed.
No longer sharp.
No longer loud.
Just weak little gasps.
Children became quiet for only two reasons.
Because they had finally fallen asleep...
Or because they no longer had the strength to cry.
Fear unlike anything Lily had ever known gripped her chest.
"Ethan..."
Serena sighed dramatically.
"What an annoying child."
She glanced toward the enormous grandfather clock.
Victor's private jet wasn't scheduled to land until after sunset.
The security team had already left for the airport.
The mansion staff had been dismissed hours earlier.
No witnesses.
No interruptions.
Exactly as she had planned.
She crouched beside Ethan.
The child instinctively flinched.
That tiny movement made Serena smile.
"So..." she whispered. "You finally learned to fear me."
Lily's eyes widened.
Fear?
This wasn't the first time.
Her heartbeat pounded violently inside her ears.
For months she had noticed bruises.
Tiny fingerprints.
Strange scratches hidden beneath expensive baby clothes.
Whenever she asked, Serena always laughed.
"He fell."
"He bumped into something."
"Children are clumsy."
Victor believed every word.
Why wouldn't he?
The woman he intended to marry volunteered at orphanages.
Donated millions to children's hospitals.
Hosted charity galas praised across the country.
The media adored her.
No one questioned angels.
Until today.
Today there were no cameras.
No reporters.
No audience.
Only Lily.
And the monster hiding behind Serena's beautiful smile.
Lily forced herself onto shaking knees.
Every breath sent knives through her ribs.
"I'll... take Ethan."
Serena looked at her with amused disbelief.
"You'll what?"
"I said..."
Lily wiped blood from the corner of her mouth.
"I'll take him."
Silence.
Then Serena laughed.
It wasn't loud.
It wasn't hysterical.
It was worse.
A calm, delighted laugh from someone who had already decided another person's fate.
"You still don't understand where you belong."
She stood gracefully.
Walked toward Lily.
Then, without warning...
Her hand whipped across Lily's face.
CRACK!
The slap echoed through the mansion.
Lily's head snapped sideways.
She tasted blood instantly.
"You are staff."
Another slap.
CRACK!
"I am family."
A third.
Harder.
"You breathe because I allow it."
Lily collapsed onto the marble.
Her ears rang.
Warm blood trickled from her split lip.
Serena adjusted one of her diamond bracelets.
"Do you know why Victor never questions me?"
She smiled.
"Because men like him don't notice details."
"They notice loyalty."
"They notice elegance."
"They notice whoever tells them exactly what they want to hear."
She bent closer.
"And I have spent three years becoming everything Victor believes he needs."
Lily stared at her.
Three years...
Every smile.
Every public appearance.
Every act of kindness.
Had it all been an act?
Serena leaned even closer until their noses were nearly touching.
"When we marry..."
Her voice became softer.
"Softer than snow.
Colder than ice.
"...that child becomes the only obstacle standing between me and the Blackwood empire."
Lily stopped breathing.
She looked toward Ethan.
The toddler was barely moving now.
His eyes fluttered.
His tiny chest rose unevenly.
No.
No...
Serena wasn't punishing him.
She was eliminating him.
The realization struck Lily with terrifying force.
She lunged one final time.
Ignoring the pain.
Ignoring the blood.
Ignoring everything except the child.
Somehow...
Her fingertips reached Ethan's tiny hand.
His little fingers instinctively wrapped around one of hers.
Weakly.
Barely.
But they held on.
A tear rolled down Lily's cheek.
"I'm here..."
She whispered through broken breaths.
"I'm here, sweetheart."
For the first time in several minutes...
Ethan stopped crying.
His eyes searched for Lily's face.
Then...
His tiny body suddenly went limp.
"No!"
Lily screamed.
Serena stepped backward calmly.
Almost... satisfied.
At that exact moment...
The deep roar of a V12 engine thundered outside the mansion.
Both women froze.
A second later came another sound.
Heavy footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Each step echoed through the entrance hall like a judge approaching the courtroom.
The massive oak doors swung open.
Every bodyguard standing outside instantly lowered his head.
No one spoke.
No one dared breathe.
A tall figure in a black overcoat stepped inside, rain dripping from his shoulders.
Victor Blackwood had returned.
Three hours early.
His icy blue eyes swept across the foyer.
The broken glass.
The blood on the marble.
The unconscious child.
The terrified nanny.
Then...
His gaze stopped on Serena.
She smiled sweetly.
"My love... thank goodness you're home."
Victor didn't answer.
He simply looked at Ethan.
Then at Lily.
Finally...
His eyes settled on the tiny hand still wrapped tightly around Lily's finger.
And for the first time in years...
The most feared man in Chicago felt something that terrified everyone around him.
May you like
Rage.
END OF CHAPTER 1
