The Child Rebecca Wanted Gone
Chapter 07 - The Child Rebecca Wanted Gone
The social worker arrived the following morning.
Her name was Denise Porter, and unlike Ethan, she was not impressed by money, a famous last name, or a large house.
She interviewed everyone separately.
When it was Mia’s turn, the girl sat stiffly in a chair with both hands folded in her lap.
“Do you feel safe here?” Denise asked.
“Yes.”
“Has anyone asked you to say that?”
“No.”
“Has Mr. Cole promised you anything?”
Mia looked confused.
“He gave me socks.”
Denise almost smiled.
The report against Ethan included another accusation.
A diamond bracelet had disappeared from Rebecca’s room.
Mia was suspected of stealing it.
Ethan’s first reaction was fury.
Mia’s was silence.
Clara’s was different.
“Search my room too,” she said.
Rebecca blinked.
“What?”
“If Mia is a thief, search all of us.”
Clara wheeled herself into Rebecca’s room before anyone could stop her.
The bracelet was not found.
Neither was it in Mia’s few belongings.
But the damage had already been done.
Denise explained that Mia would have to move temporarily while the investigation continued.
Mia did not cry until she reached the front door.
Then she turned to Clara.
“Keep doing the exercises.”
Clara’s chin trembled.
“You’re coming back.”
Mia looked at Ethan.
He wanted to promise.
He could not.
After the car pulled away, Clara refused dinner.
The next day, she refused therapy.
On the third morning, Ethan found her sitting beside the tall windows overlooking the snow-covered lawn.
“I thought I was the broken one,” she said.
Ethan sat beside her.
“You’re not broken.”
“Neither is Mia.”
That afternoon, the housekeeper, Helen, asked to speak privately with Ethan.
She had worked for the family for fourteen years and rarely involved herself in conflict.
“I found something,” she said.
From her apron pocket, she removed a velvet jewelry pouch.
Inside was Rebecca’s missing bracelet.
Ethan stared at it.
“Where?”
Helen’s face was pale.
“In the locked linen cabinet.”
“Who has a key?”
Helen looked toward the guest wing.
“Mrs. Sloan.”
May you like
And for the first time, the accusation against Mia became something more dangerous than cruelty.
It became a plan.
