"Go with Mrs. Lee," I told her quietly. "I'll come say goodnight soon."
The upstairs sitting room was Victoria's domain: white furniture, fresh flowers, everything pristine and cold. She stood by the window, her back to me, silhouetted against the fading light.
"I want her fired."
"No."
She turned, pretense abandoned. "What is this, Nathaniel? Some midlife crisis? She's a schoolteacher from a crumbling apartment building. It's embarrassing."
"She's here for Millie."
"Oh, please." Victoria's laugh was brittle. "I saw how you looked at her. The great Nathaniel Sterling, brought low by a girl in a cheap dress."
"Victoria—"
"Let me be perfectly clear." She stepped closer, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper. "I won't hesitate to add infidelity to my case. One wrong move with that girl, as little as one lingering glance, and I'll take you for everything. You'll see Millie one weekend a month."
The threat against Millie was the last bit of my restraint.
"You sent my daughter into the street." The words came out quiet, lethal. "You told a seven-year-old her father didn't love her. She walked miles alone in the rain. She could have died." I stepped forward, and for the first time, fear flickered in her eyes. "Don't lecture me about threats. The biggest danger Millie has ever faced isn't out there. It's standing in this room."
Victoria's face went white, then flushed with fury. "You'll regret this. My lawyer will hear every word."
She swept out, leaving behind expensive perfume and the echo of her threat.
I stood shaking with rage at her, at myself, at the trap we were all caught in. Then I pulled out my phone.
Miles answered immediately. "How'd the first day go?"
"It's a war zone. I need the divorce expedited."
"Mr. Sterling, we've discussed this. She's contesting everything. It’s going to take a couple of weeks."
"Then find another way. Dig deeper. Financial irregularities, hidden assets. I don't care if it gets ugly."
"That path has consequences. For everyone, including Millie."
"It's already ugly for Millie." I forced myself to breathe. "Just find something, Miles. Whatever it takes."
After hanging up, I returned to the morning room. On the table, left behind in Claire's quick departure, was a single sheet of paper, Millie's plot diagram. At the bottom, in Claire's neat, looping handwriting:
Millie, this is fantastic! Such creative thinking. The hero's journey starts with believing in yourself. You already do. —Miss Claire
Simple. Encouraging. Normal.
Everything this house wasn't.
I traced the letters with my finger, thinking about Claire. She’d have to walk into this battlefield every day, becoming Victoria's target simply because Millie smiled when she entered a room. Thinking about my daughter, tiptoeing through her own home, flinching at her stepmother's voice.
Whatever it takes.
The words tasted like ash. But ash was what remained after you burned everything down. And if that's what it took to protect them, both of them, I would light the match myself.
I just had to make sure Claire didn't get caught in a fire that had nothing to do with her.
The problem was that she already stood too close to the flames.
6.Claire
