Chapter 1 - The Girl They Left to Freeze
The moment Nicholas Grimaldi saw the security footage, the Christmas Eve celebration inside his mansion became the last thing on his mind.
“Play it again,” he ordered.
Luca, his head of security, stood beside the monitor. Neither man spoke as the recording showed Richard Caldwell gripping Emily Carter’s arm and forcing her through the front door.
Emily was wearing nothing but her maid’s uniform and a thin jacket.
Outside, the temperature had dropped to eleven degrees Fahrenheit.
Nicholas watched her turn back toward the door, pleading with Richard. Although the camera had no audio, her frightened expression told him enough.
Then Richard slammed the door in her face.
On the screen, Emily stood motionless beneath the portico before disappearing into the blizzard.
Nicholas slowly turned toward his household manager.
“You told me she left voluntarily.”
Richard swallowed. “Sir, she destroyed a priceless family heirloom. I had no choice but to dismiss her.”
“In the middle of a snowstorm?”
“She was warned about her behavior.”
Nicholas stepped closer.
“Answer my question. Where is she?”
Richard's face lost its color.
“I assume she went home.”
Nicholas looked at Luca.
“How long ago?”
“Forty-three minutes.”
The room went silent.
Forty-three minutes outside, without proper winter clothing, could be fatal.
Nicholas pulled out his phone.
“Send every available security team onto the property. Search the driveway, the gardens, the woods. Nobody leaves until we find her.”
Richard attempted another explanation.
“Mr. Grimaldi, surely you're overreacting over a maid.”
Nicholas turned so sharply that Richard stepped backward.
“Her name is Emily.”
His voice was dangerously quiet.
“And if she's dead because of you, Richard, you'll wish I'd never come home.”
Within minutes, vehicles swept across the snow-covered estate.
Nicholas insisted on joining the search.
Then Luca spotted something on the camera footage that made his blood run cold.
Emily had not headed toward the security gate.
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She had wandered toward the abandoned northern woods, where an old drainage ravine lay hidden beneath the snow.
And the last time someone had disappeared in those woods, Nicholas had spent fifteen years blaming himself for her death.
