Chapter 5 - The Snake in the Garden
By four o'clock that afternoon, the luncheon was over. The guests had departed, whispering fervently among themselves about the dramatic rift between Charlotte’s most prominent billionaire and his high-society fiancée.
Vanessa had retreated to the east wing guest suite—the room she occupied when staying over—and had locked the door. For hours, the faint sound of her furious, hushed telephone arguments with her father, Arthur Cole, had echoed through the hallway.
Daniel sat in his glass-walled conservatory at the rear of the mansion, watching the rain wash over the manicured gardens outside.
The door to the conservatory clicked open, and Grace walked in carrying a silver tray with a fresh pot of coffee and two cups.
"I only asked for one cup, Grace," Daniel noted mildly as she approached the small glass table.
"The second cup is for me," Grace said plainly, setting the tray down. "If you are going to dismantle your engagement in front of thirty prominent city leaders, Mr. Whitfield, I assume you're going to need someone to talk to who isn't trying to sell you something."
Daniel let out a loud, sudden laugh—a genuine sound that felt strange and wonderful in his chest.
"Sit down, Grace," Daniel said, gesturing to the wicker chair opposite him.
Grace sat down gracefully, smoothing her navy trousers. She poured two cups of coffee, handing one to Daniel.
"You shouldn't have done that earlier," Grace said softly, looking out at the rain. "Defending me like that. It made her your enemy."
"She was already my enemy, Grace," Daniel revealed, taking a sip of the dark roast. "I just didn't realize it until I was lying on the marble floor yesterday morning."
Grace paused, her cup halfway to her lips. She looked at him intently. "The fall. It wasn't an accident, was it?"
Daniel smiled faintly. "I tripped, yes. But I stayed down on purpose. I wanted to see who would run to help me."
"And you found out," Grace murmured.
"I found out that the woman I promised to marry cared more about her posture and her shoes than whether I was breathing," Daniel said, his tone turning dark. "And I found out that my housekeeper, whom I had barely spoken three words to in two years, was willing to stain her uniform to stop my bleeding."
Grace looked down at her coffee, a soft blush rising on her neck. "It was just basic humanity, Mr. Whitfield."
"Humanity is a rare commodity in my world, Grace," Daniel said quietly. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I know about your past."
Grace went completely rigid. Her hand tightened around the handle of her porcelain cup until her knuckles turned ghostly white. The warmth vanished from her face, replaced by that familiar, guarded wall of ice.
"Did Miss Cole tell you?" Grace asked, her voice dropping into a dangerous whisper. "Or did you hire someone to dig through my trash?"
"I asked Vance to run a check on you last night," Daniel admitted honestly. "Not to hurt you, Grace. But because I needed to know if you were safe. I know about Ethan Reed. I know what he did to you in Atlanta, how he framed you, and how you fought to clear your name for eighteen months while pregnant with Lily."
Grace stared at him, her chest heaving slightly as she processed his words. The defense mechanism she had built over five agonizing years threatened to crumble.
"If you know that," Grace rasped, "then you know why I don't play games, Mr. Whitfield. I can't afford games. I have a daughter who depends on me for everything. If Miss Cole manages to convince you to fire me, or if she fabricates a criminal charge—"
"She won't touch you," Daniel interrupted fiercely, reaching across the small table and placing his hand firmly over hers.
His skin was warm, his grip strong and protective. Grace looked down at his hand covering hers, feeling an unexpected jolt of electricity race up her arm.
"I will never let anyone frame you again, Grace," Daniel vowed, his grey eyes locked onto hers with absolute sincerity. "Not in my house. Not anywhere."
For three long seconds, neither of me moved. The rain hammered against the glass roof above them, creating a private world shielded from the storm outside.
The quiet moment was shattered by the heavy thud of the conservatory door slamming open.
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Vanessa stood in the entrance, her phone clutched in her hand, her face contorted in vicious, triumphant malice. She looked at Daniel’s hand resting over Grace’s.
"I knew it!" Vanessa screeched, lifting her phone and snapping three quick photographs before Daniel could react. "I knew there was a reason you humiliated me in front of my friends! You're sleeping with the help!"
