Chapter 2 - The Woman in the Staff Cottage
The staff cottage stood two hundred yards from the mansion.
To Adrien, it had always been part of the property.
A building.
An entry on maintenance reports.
A line in annual expenses.
He had never once stepped inside it.
That changed at 9:27 that night.
Mia hurried beside him across the garden, her small steps struggling to match his longer stride.
Adrien slowed down.
He couldn't remember the last time he had adjusted his pace for anyone.
Cold air moved through the trees.
Mia hugged Teddy against her chest.
"That one."
She pointed toward the smallest cottage.
Only one weak light burned inside.
Adrien knocked once.
No response.
Mia reached beneath a flowerpot and produced a key.
Adrien stared at it.
"Mama says burglars don't look under flowerpots because it's too obvious."
Despite everything, Adrien almost smiled.
Mia unlocked the door.
Heat struck him immediately.
Not comfortable warmth.
Stale, suffocating heat.
The cottage smelled faintly of soup, medicine, and damp clothes.
"Mama?"
Mia ran toward the bedroom.
Adrien followed.
A woman lay beneath two thin blankets.
She looked perhaps twenty-six or twenty-seven.
Dark hair clung to her forehead.
Her breathing came fast and shallow.
Adrien crossed the room and touched the back of his hand to her forehead.
Burning.
"Mama."
Mia climbed onto the mattress.
Adrien gently lifted her back down.
"Give her space."
"Is she okay?"
He didn't answer.
He pulled out his phone.
His private physician answered on the second ring.
"Mr. Romano?"
"Dr. Bennett. My estate. Now."
"What's happened?"
"Woman, late twenties. High fever. Barely responsive."
"Call an ambulance."
"No hospital until you assess her."
There was a pause.
Adrien's world came with complications.
Questions.
Police databases.
Records.
Enemies who watched emergency rooms.
"I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"Make it fifteen."
Adrien hung up.
He dialed another number.
His security chief answered.
"Boss?"
"Where is Caldwell?"
"His residence, I think."
"Bring him to the mansion."
"Now?"
"Now."
Adrien ended the call.
Mia stood beside him.
Her face looked impossibly small.
"Is Mama dying?"
Adrien turned.
The question hit him harder than threats ever had.
"No."
He couldn't know that.
He said it anyway.
Mia stared at him.
"Promise?"
Adrien hesitated.
He had already given one promise tonight.
He wasn't going to give a child another one he couldn't control.
"The doctor is coming," he said instead. "And we're going to help her."
The young woman stirred.
Her eyes opened halfway.
"Mia?"
"I'm here, Mama."
"Mia?"
She tried to sit up.
Adrien moved forward.
"Don't."
Her eyes found him.
Even fever couldn't hide the terror.
"Mr. Romano."
She attempted to get out of bed.
Adrien caught her shoulders.
"Stay down."
"I—I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"The shoes."
Adrien stared at her.
Even half-conscious, she was apologizing about his shoes.
"I'll finish them tomorrow."
"No."
She blinked.
"I can work."
"No."
"Please."
The desperation in that single word was unbearable.
Adrien lowered himself into the chair beside the bed.
"What is your name?"
"Elena Alvarez."
"How long have you worked here?"
"Nine months."
Adrien frowned.
Mia had said three months.
As though reading his expression, Elena whispered, "She stayed with my sister until recently."
"Who hired you?"
"Mr. Caldwell."
"Your job?"
"Housekeeping. Laundry. Shoes twice a week."
"Your contract includes housing?"
Elena looked away.
"Mr. Caldwell handles it."
That answer told Adrien everything.
"When did you get sick?"
"Two days ago."
"Why didn't you see a doctor?"
"I asked."
Adrien's jaw tightened.
"What happened?"
Elena hesitated.
Adrien's voice softened.
"Tell me."
"Caldwell said staff medical issues weren't the family's responsibility."
Adrien looked around the room.
A cheap plastic fan.
A folding table.
A small refrigerator.
A child's drawings taped to the wall.
The cottage sat on an estate worth tens of millions.
Yet the woman responsible for cleaning the mansion's marble floors had apparently been afraid to buy medicine.
"Why did you think you'd be removed if you missed work?"
Elena's eyes filled.
"Because he told me."
Adrien said nothing.
"He said you've been cutting expenses."
Adrien's expression changed.
"I haven't."
"He said anyone unreliable would lose staff housing."
"That's a lie."
Elena looked genuinely confused.
Adrien's anger became colder.
Someone had been using his name as a weapon.
Mia climbed onto the chair beside him.
"Mr. Adrien?"
He looked down.
"My mama didn't do bad."
"I know."
"She works all the time."
Elena closed her eyes.
"Mia, sweetheart, please."
"No. You work too much."
Adrien almost laughed at the child's indignation.
Then Mia pointed toward her mother.
"She cleans when everybody sleeps."
Adrien's gaze returned to Elena.
"What does she mean?"
Elena remained silent.
"How many hours are you working?"
"Normal."
"How many?"
"Sometimes twelve."
"Mama counts wrong."
Elena's eyes opened.
"Mia."
"She goes when it's dark and comes back when it's dark."
Adrien stood.
His phone vibrated.
Security.
"Caldwell's on his way."
"Keep him there."
Another call.
The front gate.
"Dr. Bennett arrived."
"Send him to the cottage."
Within minutes the bedroom became a makeshift clinic.
Dr. Bennett examined Elena while Adrien waited outside with Mia.
She sat on the steps, Teddy in her lap.
Adrien stood nearby.
After a while she looked at his shoes.
"Those aren't shiny."
Adrien followed her gaze.
"No."
"I can do them."
"No more shoes tonight."
"Tomorrow?"
"We'll negotiate."
Mia considered this.
"What's negotiate?"
"Arguing politely until everyone gets what they need."
"Does it work?"
"Almost never."
Mia giggled.
The sound surprised him.
It surprised her too.
For one brief second, she was simply three years old.
Then the bedroom door opened.
Dr. Bennett stepped out.
Adrien immediately stood straighter.
"Well?"
"Pneumonia, most likely bacterial. Her oxygen saturation is low. She's dehydrated and severely exhausted."
"Hospital?"
"She should go."
Adrien looked toward Mia.
Dr. Bennett understood.
"I can arrange a private intake."
"Do it."
"She needs treatment tonight."
"Whatever she needs."
Mia looked between them.
"Can I go?"
Adrien opened his mouth.
Elena's weak voice came from inside.
"Mia stays here."
Adrien entered.
Elena struggled to sit.
"I won't leave her alone."
"You won't."
"Mr. Romano—"
"Adrien."
She blinked.
He had never asked household staff to use his first name.
Neither understood why he did now.
"Mia will come with us," he said.
"Us?"
"I'm going."
Dr. Bennett raised an eyebrow.
Adrien ignored him.
Elena looked horrified.
"You don't have to."
"I know."
That was precisely why he needed to.
Twenty minutes later, a black SUV pulled away from the estate.
Elena lay in the back seat with a medical oxygen line.
Mia sat beside her.
Adrien sat opposite them.
Halfway to the hospital, Mia fell asleep.
Her head slowly tipped sideways until it rested against Adrien's arm.
He froze.
Elena noticed.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't."
"You can move her."
Adrien looked down.
The child's polish-stained hands curled against his sleeve.
"No."
Elena studied him.
Perhaps she was trying to reconcile this man with everything she had heard.
Adrien looked out the window.
Chicago passed in streaks of light.
"Why didn't you contact me?"
Elena gave a tired laugh.
"People like me don't contact people like you."
Adrien turned.
"People like you?"
"Employees."
That wasn't what she meant.
They both knew it.
"Did you believe I'd throw you and your daughter onto the street because you got sick?"
Elena didn't answer.
That silence felt like an accusation.
Adrien realized something then.
It did not matter whether he would actually have done it.
What mattered was that his house had become a place where a mother believed he might.
Fear had consequences even when the fear was built on lies.
His reputation had created the perfect weapon for someone like Caldwell.
Adrien looked at Mia.
A black streak of polish remained across her cheek.
For seven years he had believed fear protected him.
May you like
Tonight, for the first time, he wondered how many innocent people it had hurt.
---
