Chapter 4 - THE MAID WHO WAS NEVER ALLOWED ALONE
When Hannah returned, Daniel was away negotiating the final business separation between the Carvers and several violent partners.
Claire announced that Hannah had asked for her old household position back because she was unmarried, pregnant, and desperate.
Daniel received a short staffing report.
HANNAH BROOKS — TEMPORARY HOUSEKEEPING ASSISTANT.
He stared at the name.
Then he called Claire.
“Why is Hannah back?”
“She came to me for help.”
“Why didn’t she contact me?”
“She is embarrassed.”
“Let me speak to her.”
Claire had prepared for that.
She handed the phone to Hannah while standing beside Ruth’s hospital bed.
“If you say anything,” Claire whispered, “the surgery disappears.”
Daniel’s voice came through.
“Hannah?”
She nearly broke.
“Hello, Daniel.”
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“Claire says you need work.”
“I do.”
“What happened to the man you left with?”
Hannah froze.
“What man?”
Claire pressed a finger against the hospital payment authorization.
Hannah understood the warning.
“He left.”
Daniel’s silence carried hurt.
“And the baby?”
“Mine.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
She closed her eyes.
“The father isn’t involved.”
Daniel’s voice changed.
“I can find him.”
“No.”
“Hannah—”
“I don’t want your help.”
She ended the call before he heard her cry.
At the estate, Claire gave Hannah a room beside the laundry.
She prohibited her from entering Daniel’s private wing.
She assigned extra work despite the pregnancy.
She ordered staff not to speak to Hannah about Daniel.
Martin Hale watched everything.
He had managed the estate since Daniel’s childhood and remembered Hannah sitting beside Daniel during family dinners before class distinctions hardened around them.
He did not believe she had returned for charity.
One afternoon, Martin found Hannah vomiting beside the servants’ staircase.
He brought water.
“You should not be lifting trays.”
“Claire says everyone contributes.”
“Claire does not manage this estate.”
“She will after the wedding.”
Martin studied her.
“Did Daniel truly send you away?”
Hannah could not answer.
Her silence was enough.
Martin began documenting Claire’s instructions.
He saved staff schedules.
He copied clinic invoices.
He noticed Beaumont security men appearing near Ruth’s hospital.
Then he discovered a locked folder inside Claire’s temporary office.
The label read:
CONTINGENCY—CARVER HEIR.
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Inside was a legal memorandum about Daniel’s unborn child.
👉 Claire was not merely afraid Daniel would choose Hannah—the pregnancy could legally destroy the Beaumont alliance before the wedding occurred.
