PART 2
The heavy silence inside the monitoring room was nearly suffocating as the cool blue glow of the screens illuminated the hollow paleness that had taken over Chadworth’s face.
Beside him, Barnaby remained completely motionless, quietly reaching out to adjust the digital audio equalizer to make sure every whispered word from the living room was captured with absolute clarity.
On the central monitor, Sabina took two deliberate steps toward Rosamund, her face distorted by a bitter sneer that completely destroyed any trace of her usual elegance.
“You really think you are clever, do you not?” Sabina sneered, her voice echoing sharply through the room’s speakers. “You think that just because Chadworth pays you a decent wage, you have any right to tell me how to run this household? You are nothing more than a hired servant, Rosamund. You come from a neighborhood he would never even drive through, and the moment I marry him, I will personally throw you out onto the street within an hour.”
Rosamund did not flinch or step back.
She maintained her respectful posture, keeping herself firmly positioned as a human shield between the furious woman and the frightened young girls.
“I understand my position in this estate, Miss Sabina,” Rosamund answered calmly and steadily. “My primary duty is to care for Lorelai and Gemma. Mr. Prescott specifically asked me to protect them and ensure they are safe whenever he is away.”
“He hired you to clean toilet bowls and scrub kitchen floors!” Sabina shouted, stepping uncomfortably close to the younger woman’s face. “Do not mistake his generosity for weakness, and do not ever pretend that you belong in a family like this. Now pick up those scattered toys, get these spoiled little brats out of my sight, and take them up to their bedrooms immediately. I have guests arriving at one o’clock, and I will not have noisy children ruining my afternoon.”
Lorelai reached out with a trembling hand and grabbed the edge of Rosamund’s white apron.
“Rosamund, we did not even get to finish our morning chapter,” the girl whimpered quietly.
Sabina whipped around toward the child, her eyes wide with sudden rage.
“Did I give you permission to open your mouth and speak to me, Lorelai?” she barked.
“Leave my sister alone!” little Gemma suddenly cried out, her high voice trembling as she tried to reach for her stuffed rabbit on the nearby couch.
“What did you just say to me?” Sabina snapped, reaching out aggressively to grab Gemma’s slender wrist.
“Do not touch her!” Rosamund’s voice lost every trace of its usual submissive tone.
In a fraction of a second, without striking or shoving, Rosamund stepped directly into Sabina’s path, placing her forearm firmly between Sabina’s hand and the young child.
Sabina gasped in complete shock, stepping back as her face turned bright red with fury.
“You actually put your hands on me. You laid hands on me in my own home.”
“I am simply protecting Mr. Prescott’s children, exactly as he expects me to do,” Rosamund stated, her voice lowering into a firm tone that sounded as solid as stone.
A dark, calculating smile slowly spread across Sabina’s face as she pulled a sleek smartphone out of her designer handbag.
“You just completely ruined your life, Rosamund,” she said softly. “I am calling the police right now. I am going to tell the authorities that you physically assaulted me inside this house. Then I will tell Chadworth that I caught you going through his private wall safe in the study, and when I tried to stop you, you attacked me and threatened the girls.”
In the surveillance control room, Chadworth clenched his hands into tight fists until his knuckles turned completely white.
The sound of his own rushing blood filled his ears as every single lie Sabina had whispered over the past several months replayed in his head, completely stripped of their deceptive charm.
All those missing items, all those subtle warnings about Rosamund manipulating his daughters, and all those complaints about the staff being disrespectful were nothing more than calculated lies designed to isolate his children and consolidate her own power over his estate.
“Keep the surveillance recorders running, Barnaby,” Chadworth instructed in a tone that was terrifyingly calm.
It was the exact same cold, ruthless tone he used when destroying corporate rivals who tried to cross him in business.
“Make sure every single frame of video and every second of audio is saved directly to three independent external servers. Do not cut the feed under any circumstances.”
“Where are you going, sir?” Barnaby asked, immediately standing up from his desk.
“I am going upstairs to clean out my house,” Chadworth answered plainly.
In the primary living room, Sabina was pacing back and forth across the rug while holding her phone to her ear, pretending to wait for a police operator while staring down Rosamund with pure hatred.
“You are completely finished, Rosamund,” Sabina declared triumphantly. “You will not just be fired today; I will personally ensure your name is blacklisted across every domestic agency in the entire country so you can never work again.”
Lorelai was holding Gemma tightly, both girls sobbing quietly behind Rosamund’s back.
Rosamund stood her ground firmly, offering the frightened children a small, reassuring smile over her shoulder.
“Everything is going to be alright, my sweet girls. Do not be afraid, I am right here with you.”
“They should be terrified!” Sabina barked loudly. “They need to learn who is going to be ruling this household from now on. Your father does not have time for you, and he certainly does not care about a pair of ungrateful little—”
“Finish that exact sentence,” a deep, booming voice echoed through the high-ceilinged archway of the room.
The living room froze instantly.
Sabina’s smartphone nearly slipped out of her fingers as she spun around, the color draining completely from her face.
Walking slowly out of the hallway shadows was Chadworth Prescott.
He had removed his formal blazer, rolling the sleeves of his white dress shirt up to his forearms.
His expression was completely blank, but his dark eyes burned with a terrifying combination of anger, heart-wrenching grief, and absolute clarity.
“Chadworth?” Sabina stammered out, her voice instantly dropping into the soft, sweet tone she always used to manipulate him. “What are you doing here? Your flight… you were supposed to be halfway to Canada by now…”
Chadworth did not offer her a single word in response.
He did not even look at her as he walked directly past her, treating her presence as if she were made of empty air.
He walked straight toward Rosamund and his two small daughters, dropping down onto both knees directly on the hardwood floor.
The powerful billionaire knelt humbly before his trembling children, holding his hands out with his palms facing upward so he would not startle them.
“Lorelai… Gemma…” he said, his voice cracking slightly under the weight of his emotions. “I am so deeply sorry. God, I am so sorry for everything.”
Lorelai looked at him with wide, confused eyes, flinching slightly before taking a hesitant step forward.
“Daddy? Are you… are you mad at us?”
“Mad at you?” Chadworth felt tears burning behind his eyes, but he forced himself to stay strong for them. “Why on earth would I ever be mad at my precious girls?”
“Because Sabina told us we were bad,” Gemma whispered softly from behind Rosamund’s apron. “She told us that we were making you stressed out, and she said that if we ever complained to you, you would pack our bags and send us away to a strict boarding school in another country.”
Chadworth closed his eyes tightly as a sharp, agonizing pain shot through his chest.
He distinctly remembered the conversation where he had dismissed their quiet tears as simple childhood rebellion because he had been too focused on his business deals to listen to their cries for help.
“No, never,” Chadworth swore, opening his eyes to look directly at them. “You two are my absolute entire world. Do you hear me? Nothing in this universe matters more to me than your safety and happiness.”
He pulled both girls tightly into his arms, and for the first time in months, they did not pull away or hold back their tears.
Lorelai sobbed openly against his neck while Gemma clung tightly to his shirt, and Chadworth held them with a fiercely protective grip, kissing their hair repeatedly.
Over their small shoulders, Chadworth looked up at Rosamund, who had quietly stepped back to give the family space, wiping a tear from her own cheek.
“Thank you, Rosamund,” Chadworth said, his voice thick with profound gratitude. “Thank you for protecting my sweet little girls when their own father was far too blind to protect them himself.”
Rosamund bowed her head respectfully.
“I simply did what was right, Mr. Prescott.”
“Chadworth, my love!” Sabina’s voice intruded frantically as she rushed forward, attempting to place a hand on his shoulder. “What is going on here? Why have you come back? You do not understand what just happened! This woman just physically attacked me! She was being completely disobedient, trying to turn the girls against me, and when I tried to correct their behavior, she put her hands on me! I was simply trying to bring some proper structure to this home—”
Chadworth stood up slowly, turning to face her.
The warmth that had filled his eyes while holding his daughters vanished completely, replaced by an icy, lethal glare.
“Do not touch me,” Chadworth said in a quiet, dangerous voice that made Sabina freeze in her tracks. “And do not speak another word in my presence.”
Sabina blinked in sheer disbelief, taking a fearful step backward.
“Chadworth, what is wrong with you? Why are you looking at me like that? I am your fiancée! I am trying to help you raise your daughters properly!”
“You had no idea that I installed upgraded private security cameras throughout the entire house three months ago, did you?” Chadworth asked coldly.
Sabina’s jaw dropped slightly.
“What?”
“There are over thirty hidden high-definition cameras installed across this estate,” Chadworth explained, stepping closer until Sabina was backed up against the edge of a tall display table. “I never left for the airport today, Sabina. I walked back into this house forty-five minutes ago and sat in the security control room. I watched every single movement on those screens, and I heard every terrible word you spoke to my children and to Rosamund. I saw you throw Gemma’s toy, and I heard you threaten to ruin an innocent woman’s life with false police reports.”
The remaining color drained completely from Sabina’s face as her phone slipped from her fingers and crashed onto the floor.
“Chadworth… please let me explain…” she gasped out, panic taking over her voice. “It is not what it looks like! I was just feeling overwhelmed! The girls were being disobedient, and I was simply trying to establish clear rules! A mother has to establish discipline—”
“You are not their mother!” Chadworth roared, his voice thunderous enough to shake the living room fixtures, causing Sabina to jump back in absolute terror. “You will never be their mother! You are a cruel, calculating fraud who lied to me, tormented helpless children, and tried to destroy my home!”
Sabina began to shake violently, real tears of terror pouring down her face as her polished facade crumbled completely.
“Chadworth, please! I love you! I love the girls! I made a huge mistake, I was just stressed about our upcoming wedding—”
“Be quiet,” Chadworth commanded coldly.
He raised his left wrist and spoke directly into his communication watch.
“Barnaby, bring them in now.”
Within seconds, the heavy double doors of the foyer swung open.
Barnaby entered the room, accompanied by two uniformed state police officers and a woman wearing a tailored navy suit carrying a dark leather briefcase, Chadworth’s chief legal representative, Theresa Fairchild.
Sabina gasped out loud, stumbling backward against the wall.
“Police? Why are there police officers inside this house?!”
“Because this is no longer a private matter,” Chadworth stated plainly.
Theresa Fairchild stepped forward, pulling a series of official legal documents from her briefcase.
She looked at Sabina with absolute professional indifference.
“Sabina Vance,” Theresa announced clearly. “As of fifteen minutes ago, Mr. Prescott has officially revoked all your access privileges to this property. Furthermore, we are pressing immediate criminal charges against you for child abuse, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and felony extortion.”
“Extortion?!” Sabina shrieked hysterically. “That is insane! I never extorted anyone in my entire life!”
“We have clear audio recordings from twenty minutes ago,” Theresa countered smoothly. “You explicitly threatened to file false police reports regarding theft and physical assault against Rosamund lower unless she complied with your demands. Attempting to frame an employee and using police action as a weapon constitutes felony coercion and blackmail under state law.”
Theresa stepped slightly closer, her tone dropping into a razor-sharp whisper.
“And that is only the beginning, Sabina. Mr. Prescott instructed my team to perform a forensic audit of all household allowance transfers made over the past five months. We have already uncovered four unauthorized wire transfers sent directly to personal accounts registered under your maiden name in the Cayman Islands, totaling over $1.4 million. You did not just abuse his children; you committed grand larceny.”
Sabina’s knees buckled under her weight, and she slid down the wall, collapsing onto the rug in a heap of expensive designer fabric.
“No… please, Chadworth… talk to me… do not do this to me…”
The two state police officers stepped forward immediately.
“Miss Vance, please stand up. You are under arrest.”
