Chapter 5 - the maid's file
The clock in Roman's study read 1:15 AM when Marcus returned, laying a thin manila folder onto the mahogany desk.
Roman opened the folder under the warm desk lamp.
Inside were standard application forms, a background check clearance, and a copy of Megan Cole's birth certificate from a small town in upstate New York. But as Roman flipped to the second page, his dark eyes locked onto a handwritten reference letter attached to the back—signed twenty-three years ago by Roman's father, Victor Vale.
Attached to the letter was a small photograph of a young woman holding an infant—a young woman with soft brown hair and gentle eyes who looked identical to Megan.
Roman’s breath caught in his chest.
Megan wasn't just a maid hired from an agency three years ago. She was the daughter of Victor Vale's private secretary—the woman who had vanished from the estate twenty years ago during the internal war that nearly destroyed the family.
A soft tap sounded at the study door.
Roman closed the folder smoothly. "Enter."
Megan stepped inside, looking pale and nervous in her dark cardigan over her maid uniform. "Mr. Vale... Marcus said you wanted to see me?"
"Sit down, Megan," Roman said gently, gesturing to the leather armchair across from his desk.
Megan sat cautiously on the edge of the seat, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. "Is this about Sadie, Mr. Vale? I swear I am teaching her to stay in our quarters during your meetings—"
"Megan," Roman interrupted, his deep voice quiet and reassuring. "Sadie did this family a great service today. You have nothing to apologize for."
Roman leaned forward, resting his forearms on the desk. "I need to ask you an honest question. Who recommended you for this job three years ago?"
Megan hesitated, her soft brown eyes searching his face. "It... it was Mr. Pierce, sir. Graham Pierce. He contacted me after my mother passed away in New York. He said your house needed a discreet housekeeper, and that my mother had once worked for your father."
Roman’s jaw tightened. Graham had placed Megan inside the estate three years ago, keeping her presence quiet, controlling her employment while slowly stripping the vault of the deeds that proved her family's legal connection to the Vale trust.
"Did Graham ever ask you to look for anything inside this house, Megan?" Roman asked.
Megan swallowed hard, her eyes lowering. "He... he asked me last month if I had ever seen an old wooden box inside the attic storeroom. He said it contained old maintenance records."
"And did you find it?"
"No," Megan whispered, looking up at him with clear, honest eyes. "I told him I don't look through private rooms."
Roman stood up, walking around his desk until he stood before her. "Starting tomorrow, Megan, you and Sadie move into the master guest suite on the second floor. You will no longer clean these rooms."
May you like
Megan looked at him in total shock. "Mr. Vale... I don't understand."
"You are safe here, Megan," Roman said softly, his presence tall, dark, and unshakeable. "And tomorrow, Graham Pierce is going to answer for twenty years of lies."
