Chapter 1 - The Spoon Before Her Mouth
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The spoon was inches from Baby Lily’s mouth when Dominic Valero entered the nursery.
He stopped so suddenly that the man behind him nearly walked into his back.
Wet dog food covered the silver feeding plate.
His eight-month-old daughter sat strapped safely in her high chair, tiny hands curled around the tray.
Celeste stood beside her.
Emerald gown.
Diamonds.
A vicious smile.
“Eat like the little animal you are.”
Dominic moved.
Fast.
He caught Celeste’s wrist before the spoon touched Lily.
The spoon hit the floor.
Dominic pulled the high chair toward himself and checked his daughter.
Lily blinked up at him.
Healthy.
Confused.
Untouched.
Only then did Dominic look at Celeste.
His expression became completely still.
“You fed my daughter this?”
Celeste lifted her chin.
“She needs to learn what she is.”
Dominic looked at the silver pet bowl.
Then at his sister-in-law’s expensive dress.
He picked up the entire bowl.
And emptied it over her.
A collective gasp rose from the ballroom beyond the nursery.
Celeste recoiled.
Her heel caught the carpet.
She fell backward into a cushioned chair.
Nobody laughed.
Nobody dared.
She pushed herself upright.
Her carefully controlled face was finally cracking.
“You think humiliating me changes anything?”
Dominic stepped between her and Lily.
“You’re finished in this house.”
Celeste wiped food from her gown.
Then she smiled.
Not embarrassed anymore.
Almost satisfied.
“Ask who ordered me to do it.”
Dominic stopped.
The ballroom was filled with nearly fifty guests.
Family.
Attorneys.
Executives.
Old friends.
People who had known Dominic since he was young.
He looked through the open nursery doors.
“Which one of them?”
Celeste said nothing.
She simply watched him.
Then Dominic noticed something behind her.
A small security camera on the nursery bookshelf.
Its lens was pointed strangely.
Not toward Lily.
Toward the doorway.
Toward the exact place Dominic had been standing when he grabbed Celeste.
Dominic walked over.
A red recording light blinked.
Celeste’s smile faded.
He looked back at her.
“You weren’t recording Lily.”
Silence.
“You were recording me.”
For the first time, Celeste looked nervous.
Then Dominic heard his head of security behind him.
“Boss.”
Dominic turned.
“What?”
“The camera feed didn’t go to our system.”
“Where did it go?”
The man held up a cable disappearing behind the wall.
“We don’t know.”
Dominic slowly looked toward the crowded ballroom again.
Someone had set the room.
Someone had positioned the camera.
And someone had apparently known exactly how Dominic would react when he saw his daughter being humiliated.
May you like
👉 Celeste had been cruel to Lily—but Dominic was beginning to realize Lily might have been only the bait.
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