Chapter 3 - Kai Put Bodyguards Outside Mara's Door After Someone Targeted Lily, and the Billionaire Discovered the Maid Had Been Hiding a Secret of Her OwnKai moved Mara and Lily into the guest wing.
Mara protested.
“I'm not living in your house.”
“You are for now.”
“I have my own apartment.”
“Which is being watched.”
She froze.
“What?”
“Security confirmed someone followed you.”
Her face went pale.
“How long?”
“Three days.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know who it was.”
Mara crossed her arms.
“You don't get to decide what I should be afraid of.”
Kai stopped.
He studied her.
Then nodded.
“You're right.”
It was the first time Mara had seen him admit fault without argument.
“Then tell me everything.”
He did.
The fraud.
The chess piece.
The visitor.
The threats.
Mara listened.
Then said:
“I need to tell you something too.”
Kai's expression changed.
“What?”
“My name isn't Mara Garrison.”
He stared.
She took off the silver necklace she always wore.
A tiny pendant opened.
Inside was an old photograph.
Her real name was Mara Whitmore.
Her mother had been Elena Harrington's closest friend.
Kai froze.
“Elena knew you?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She hired me.”
“To do what?”
“To protect her daughter.”
Kai's heart stopped.
“Your mother?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Mara looked at him.
“Elena believed someone inside Harrington Tech was trying to hurt her.”
Kai stared.
“My wife never told me.”
“She couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because she was afraid you were involved.”
He stepped back.
“You're saying my wife suspected me?”
“No.”
Mara shook her head.
“She suspected someone would make it look like you were involved.”
Kai looked at the photograph.
“What happened?”
“Elena gave me documents.”
“What documents?”
“Financial records.”
The same records now connected to the childcare fraud.
Kai sat.
“She knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“She tried.”
“When?”
“Two days before she died.”
Kai's voice became almost inaudible.
“What did she say?”
“That if anything happened to her, I should find you.”
Mara looked at him.
“But then she died.”
Kai's face hardened.
He had spent two years believing Elena's death was tragic.
Sudden.
Unfair.
Now the possibility of murder entered his mind.
He stood.
“Where are the documents?”
“I don't have them.”
“Where?”
“Your wife hid them.”
“Where?”
Mara shook her head.
“She didn't tell me.”
Kai stared.
“Then why do you know about them?”
“Because I helped her.”
Silence filled the room.
Mara looked toward the hallway.
“I was never hired to be your maid.”
Kai's expression changed.
“What?”
“My aunt worked here.”
“She retired.”
“Yes.”
Mara's voice softened.
“Before she left, she asked me to take her place.”
“Why?”
“To watch you.”
His jaw tightened.
“And?”
“I did.”
“For three years?”
“Yes.”
“To find out whether I killed Elena?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Mara looked at him.
“I don't think you did.”
That sentence destroyed something inside him.
Because he realized the woman he'd barely noticed had spent three years studying him.
Not for money.
Not for advancement.
To determine whether he was guilty of killing his wife.
And she still hadn't trusted him enough to tell him.
Kai walked toward the window.
His reflection looked unfamiliar.
“Did Elena love me?”
Mara closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Then why was she afraid?”
“Because love doesn't mean trust.”
He nodded.
The words hurt.
Later that night, Lily wandered into the room.
“Mama?”
Mara turned.
“Yes?”
“Why is the king scared?”
Kai looked down.
Lily was holding the black chess piece.
Kai crouched.
“I'm not scared.”
“Yes you are.”
“How do you know?”
“You look like me when I lose my shoes.”
Mara laughed.
Kai did too.
Then he noticed something in Lily's hand.
A second gold mark.
On the queen.
He took it.
His face went pale.
The pieces weren't just decorative.
Each contained a code.
Together, they formed a key.
A key to Elena's hidden records.
Kai looked at Mara.
“Your daughter found it.”
She nodded.
Kai held Lily's hand.
“Thank you.”
Lily smiled.
“You're welcome, king.”
The next clue was hidden inside the queen.
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And whoever had been searching the house knew it.
Which meant the race had started.
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