I set up twenty-six hidden cameras around my house to catch my nanny cutting corners. My heart had turned cold—tempered by a billion-dollar empire and shattered by the sudden, devastating loss of my wife. I believed I was guarding my children from an outsider. I never imagined I was witnessing an angel quietly battling my own family.

“I’m not just hired help,” Elena replied as she stepped into the light. She reached into her apron and pulled out an old, worn locket. “I was the nursing student on duty the night Seraphina died. I was the last person she spoke to.”

Her voice cracked. “She told me you tampered with her IV. She knew you wanted the Thorne name. Before she passed, she made me swear that if she didn’t survive, I would find her sons. I spent two years changing my name and appearance just to get into this house—to keep them safe from you.”

Beatrice lunged toward her.

I didn’t wait to see what happened next.

I was out of bed in seconds, running down the hallway with rage burning through my veins. I burst into the nursery just as Beatrice raised her hand to strike Elena. I didn’t yell. I simply grabbed her wrist and met her eyes.

“The cameras are recording in high definition, Beatrice,” I said coldly. “And the police are already at the gate.”

The real ending didn’t come with Beatrice being taken away in handcuffs—though that did happen. It came an hour later, after the house had finally gone still.

I sat on the nursery floor, exactly where Elena had been sitting. For the first time in two years, I saw my sons not as problems to solve or responsibilities to manage, but as living pieces of the woman I loved.

“How did you know the song?” I asked Elena, my voice thick with tears.