"Stop... please, Mrs. Vance!" Maya cried out, groaning in agony as the club struck her spine again. "She's just a baby!"
Pressed beneath Maya’s trembling frame, little Chloe wept silently. Three fresh, bleeding claw marks cut across the toddler’s left cheek, her wide tear-filled eyes staring up at the terrifying shadow of her stepmother raising the club for a third strike.
Chapter II: The Door Opens
Vanessa drew the club high above her head, her teeth gritted, preparing to deliver a crushing blow.
The heavy walnut double doors of the private elevator foyer glided open.
Stepping into the hall in a tailored three-piece charcoal suit and black tie was Marcus Vance—CEO of Vance Global Holdings and the owner of the penthouse. He had returned early from an international business summit to surprise his family.
Marcus froze. His eyes locked onto the horrific scene in the center of his living room: his wife holding a golf club poised to strike, the nanny bruised and bleeding on the floor, and the faint whimper of a child trapped beneath her.