DAISY

I did not stay up in the nursery like Brian told me to. The moment his heavy footsteps faded down the hall, I unlocked the door and sprinted straight out into the corridor.

My heart was hammering violently against my ribs, and my hands were shaking uncontrollably. I was not going to hide upstairs like a coward while some obsessed woman walked into my own home to ruin my life.

As I reached the top of the grand stairs, the sound of a woman’s sharp, mocking laughter came echoing straight up from the living room, piercing right through me.

“Oh, look at this tacky place,” Vivienne Vance’s high voice...