Chapter 3 - THE NAME ON THE PAYROLL
The words stayed in the hallway.
Closed four years ago.
I stared at Marcus.
“That isn't possible.”
Marcus showed me his phone.
The business registry was clear.
Hudson Domestic Services had been dissolved four years earlier.
I shook my head.
“But I applied through them.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
“Online?”
“Yes.”
“Who interviewed you?”
“A woman named Rebecca.”
“What was her last name?”
I thought.
“I don't know.”
Dominic looked at Marcus.
“Find her.”
Marcus nodded.
I felt suddenly uncomfortable.
“What does any of this have to do with Sofia?”
Dominic didn't answer.
That scared me more than anything.
He took the note from Marcus.
Then looked at me.
“Did anyone tell you to apply here?”
“No.”
“Did anyone mention my name before the interview?”
“No.”
“Did you know who I was?”
“Of course.”
“How?”
“Everyone knows who you are.”
His expression remained unreadable.
I sighed.
“I'm not secretly working for someone.”
“I didn't say you were.”
“You were thinking it.”
A faint expression crossed his face.
“I'm thinking about possibilities.”
“That's worse.”
Marcus almost smiled.
Dominic looked at him.
Marcus immediately became serious.
Then Dominic looked at me again.
“Go home.”
My stomach dropped.
“Am I fired?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because until I know who hired you, you're not safe.”
I crossed my arms.
“I'm not leaving.”
“Elena.”
“You hired me because you needed a housekeeper.”
“I hired you because your references were excellent.”
“Then let me do my job.”
“This isn't a normal job.”
“I noticed.”
For several seconds, we stared at each other.
Then Dominic sighed.
“You're stubborn.”
“So I've been told.”
“Fine.”
He turned toward Marcus.
“Double the security.”
Marcus nodded.
Dominic walked away.
Then stopped.
“Two o'clock.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“Your music.”
I stared at him.
“You still want that?”
His eyes met mine.
“Yes.”
Then he left.
I couldn't help smiling.
Marcus watched him disappear.
“You really don't know what you're doing to him.”
I frowned.
“What am I doing?”
“Making him remember he's alive.”
Before I could answer, Marcus's phone rang.
He stepped away.
A few minutes later, he returned.
“We found Rebecca.”
My heart jumped.
“Where?”
“She doesn't work for Hudson.”
“Who is she?”
Marcus looked at Dominic's office.
“She used to work for Sofia.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Doing what?”
“Personal assistant.”
Dominic appeared behind us.
“How long?”
Marcus looked at him.
“Three years.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“Bring her here.”
Two hours later, Rebecca arrived.
She was in her early forties.
Nervous.
Exhausted.
She sat across from Dominic in the small library.
I remained near the door.
Rebecca looked at me.
“I didn't know she would be hired.”
Dominic's voice was cold.
“Who?”
“Her.”
He nodded toward me.
“Why did you send Elena to my house?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I didn't.”
“Then who did?”
“I received instructions.”
“From whom?”
She hesitated.
“A number I couldn't trace.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“What did they tell you?”
“That a woman named Elena Bennett would contact me.”
I frowned.
“My last name is Bennett.”
Rebecca nodded.
“They told me to arrange the interview.”
“Why?”
“They said Dominic would understand once she was inside the house.”
Dominic stared at her.
“What else?”
Rebecca pulled a photograph from her purse.
She placed it on the table.
It showed Sofia.
And beside her stood a young woman.
Me.
I stopped breathing.
“That isn't me.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“It was taken eleven years ago.”
I stared at the photograph.
The woman looked almost exactly like me.
Same dark hair.
Same face shape.
Same small scar near the eyebrow.
But she wasn't me.
“Who is she?”
Rebecca looked at Dominic.
“Her name was Mara Bennett.”
My stomach dropped.
“Bennett?”
Rebecca nodded.
“She was Sofia's closest friend.”
Dominic looked at me.
I couldn't speak.
My father had always told me our family had no connection to Westchester.
No wealthy people.
No private security.
No reason to know the Vales.
But suddenly, my last name was standing inside a photograph from Dominic's past.
Rebecca continued.
“Mara died eleven years ago.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
Dominic went completely still.
Marcus whispered something under his breath.
I looked at the photograph again.
Same face.
Same eyes.
Same scar.
I finally found my voice.
“Was she related to me?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Dominic stood.
“Where did you get this?”
“Sofia kept it.”
“Why?”
Rebecca looked at me.
“She believed Mara's death wasn't an accident.”
Silence.
Then Dominic noticed something written on the back.
He turned it over.
One sentence.
IF ELENA EVER COMES HERE, DO NOT LET HER SEE THE BLUE ROOM.
Dominic looked at me.
“What blue room?”
I shook my head.
“I don't know.”
Rebecca suddenly stood.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“Sofia wasn't afraid of the person who killed Mara.”
She looked at Dominic.
“She was afraid of the person who ordered it.”
Dominic's face became cold.
“Who?”
Rebecca's hands trembled.
“I never saw his face.”
“Then what do you know?”
“He wore your father's watch.”
Dominic stared at her.
“The same watch from Sofia's note.”
Rebecca nodded.
Then she looked at me.
“Mara was investigating him when she died.”
I felt a cold weight settle in my chest.
“Why would someone who looked like me be investigating a man connected to Dominic's family?”
Rebecca whispered—
“Because Mara was your mother.”
The room disappeared.
I could hear nothing.
Dominic looked at me.
Marcus looked at Dominic.
May you like
And Rebecca quietly added—
“Your mother wasn't supposed to die.”
