A Wealthy Man Finds His Long-Lost Daughter Scrubbing Floors in His Own Mansion
Previously: When Thomas returned home early, he expected a quiet evening. Instead, he found his long-lost daughter kneeling on his marble floors, hired as a maid by his own wife.
The Web of Lies Unravels
Thomas did not move. The atmosphere in the grand foyer turned ice-cold. He ignored his wife's greeting, his eyes remaining fixed on the young woman trembling on the floor. He stepped past Victoria, ignoring her outstretched hand, and knelt down directly into the soapy water, ruining his expensive suit. He gently reached out and lifted Chloe's chin. Up close, there was no doubt. The small strawberry birthmark near her collarbone confirmed it. It was his Chloe.
"Chloe? Is it really you?" Thomas whispered, his voice cracking with a decade of unshed tears. "They told me you were gone."
Chloe looked at him with a mixture of fear and longing.
"She told me you didn't want me," Chloe sobbed, flinching as she pointed a trembling finger at Victoria. "She said you paid her to keep me away, and that if I ever told you the truth, you would have me arrested."
Thomas stood up, his grief instantly hardening into a furious, protective rage. He turned to Victoria, whose elegant facade was starting to crack. The wine glass in her hand trembled, the red liquid sloshing against the crystal.
"What is the meaning of this, Victoria?" Thomas demanded, his voice echoing off the high ceilings like thunder.
Victoria tried to regain her composure, letting out a dry, nervous laugh.
"Thomas, don't be ridiculous. She's just a troubled girl we hired from an agency. She's delusional. You know how grief plays tricks on your mind."
But Thomas was no fool. He demanded Chloe show him her living quarters. In the cramped, windowless basement room assigned to the maid, Thomas found Chloe's meager belongings. Among them was a legal agreement signed by Victoria herself, detailing monthly payments to Chloe's estranged adoptive guardians to keep her identity hidden, and a contract forcing Chloe into domestic service under a false name to pay off a "debt" Victoria had fabricated. Victoria had kept his daughter as a servant in his own home, tormenting her right under his nose.
”Victoria had kept his daughter as a servant in his own home, tormenting her right under his nose.