Chapter 6 - The First Lie She Had to Tell
Maya placed the emergency phone inside the lining of the laundry hamper.
Then she turned on the faucet.
“My doctor,” she answered.
“At two in the morning?”
“I had cramps.”
Trent opened the door using a key.
His eyes went immediately to her hands.
“Where’s your phone?”
“In the bedroom.”
He searched the bathroom.
The cabinets.
The trash can.
The pockets of her robe.
When he found nothing, his expression softened.
“You should have woken me.”
Maya forced herself to smile.
“I didn’t want to worry you.”
It was the first lie she told him without guilt.
The following day, Celeste announced that she and Richard would remain in the penthouse until after the baby was born.
“You need supervision,” Celeste said.
“I need privacy.”
“Privacy is what caused all this confusion.”
From then on, Maya was rarely alone.
Celeste followed her into the kitchen.
Richard waited outside medical appointments.
Trent changed the passwords to their bank accounts and deactivated Maya’s personal credit cards.
But the emergency phone remained hidden.
At night, Maya photographed documents from Trent’s briefcase.
She sent everything to Alex.
The transfers were larger than she had imagined.
Harlow Strategic Advisory was only one of twelve shell companies.
Millions had been stolen from Carter Sentinel over five years.
Some payments were approved before Thomas died.
Others began three days after his funeral.
One night, Maya heard Trent and his parents speaking in the dining room.
She placed the emergency phone beneath the partially open door and activated its recorder.
“She has to sign before the baby comes,” Richard said.
“She won’t,” Trent replied.
“Then we prove she’s unstable,” Celeste said. “Pregnancy makes that easy.”
“What about custody?”
Celeste laughed quietly.
“If Maya is declared incompetent, you control the child. And the child controls the trust.”
Maya covered her mouth to stop herself from gasping.
Then Trent said something that made her blood turn cold.
May you like
“Her father should have signed when he had the chance.”
👉 Maya finally understood they did not just want her company—they intended to take her baby too.
