Chapter 3
The clatter of crystal glasses and the low hum of affluent conversations provided a rhythmic backdrop to the Christmas Eve festivities. Elora knelt beside the low worktable, her rumpled apron brushing the polished marble floor. She kept her puffy, shadowed eyes focused entirely on the plush toys, desperately avoiding the gaze of the mafia boss and his deceitful fiancée standing just a few yards away.
"Mommy?" a small, cheerful voice echoed near the towering Christmas tree.
Elora looked up. Six-year-old Mia Vale, Ronan's daughter from a previous marriage, was walking toward her. The little girl was dressed impeccably in a cream Christmas dress and a soft burgundy cardigan, her fair, rosy skin glowing in the fairy lights. Mia dragged a large, fluffy teddy bear by one arm. Over the past year, Mia had found unwavering comfort in the gentle maid, adopting Elora as the maternal figure she desperately craved, much to Sabrina's hidden disgust.
"Hello, sweetie," Elora whispered, forcing a fragile smile onto her face. "Are you having a good time?"
"Yes," Mia nodded, dropping the teddy bear onto the low worktable. "But Teddy is cold. He needs to dress up."
"I can tie a ribbon around him for you," Elora offered, her hands shaking slightly as she reached for a spool of thick burgundy ribbon resting among the wrapped presents.
"I found something better," Mia announced proudly.
The little girl reached behind her back. She had been exploring the upper floors of the mansion while the adults drank champagne. She had wandered into Sabrina's dressing room and found the velvet hatbox that Elora had failed to close properly earlier that day.
Mia pulled out the soft, silicone prosthetic pregnancy bump. It was a high-grade, realistic theatrical piece, complete with fastening straps.
Elora’s breath hitched violently in her throat. The color drained entirely from her face. She stared at the prosthetic, her mind racing with absolute terror. She knew exactly what it was, and she knew exactly what Sabrina would do to them both if she saw Mia holding it in the middle of a crowded room.
"Mia, you have to put that away," Elora pleaded, her voice a desperate, terrified whisper. "Right now. Give it to me."
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"But it's for Teddy," Mia insisted, clutching the silicone bump tightly against her cream dress.
Elora reached out, her delicate fingers trembling, but it was too late. The heavy, measured footsteps of Ronan Vale approached the low worktable. The imposing mafia boss had noticed his daughter wandering away from the crowd and had come to check on her, with Sabrina trailing confidently by his side.
