I FAKED A BUSINESS TRIP TO CATCH MY NEW NANNY RED-HANDED, BUT THE LAUGHTER IN MY LIVING ROOM EXPOSED THE REAL MONSTER IN THE MANSION. The moment I cautiously stepped inside to observe, my entire world of belief crumbled when I realized the person lurking in my house was actually…..

Valerie went on more quietly. “My mother also said your wife didn’t trust everyone around her.”

Something in me hardened again. “Meaning?”

“Meaning she seemed worried about what would happen if she wasn’t there.”

I looked back toward the doorway where Eleanor had vanished. Then I looked at the covered piano, the black felt sitting over it like a funeral veil. I remembered, with a clarity that made me sick, how many decisions I had made after Sophia’s death because Eleanor had told me they were practical. That the boys needed calm. That staff needed strictness. That too much tenderness would make grief worse, not better.

“How long have you been noticing this with the twins?” I asked.

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