“You thought you could simply walk into this family and take what belongs to us.”

“A girl from a West Virginia coal town, pretending to be a lady.”

“You are nothing but a gold digger, Emily.”

“And now, the world knows it.”

“The press will have the full story by morning.”

“They will know how Nathan used you to hide his financial crimes.”

I felt a cold sweat break out on the back of my neck.

“Nathan is innocent,” I said. “And you know it.”

“It does not matter what is true,” Eleanor replied, her eyes narrowing.

“It matters what can be proved.”

“And right now, the paper trail points directly to you.”

I did not answer her.

I ran upstairs to our bedroom, locking the door behind me.

My phone was buzzing continuously with notifications.

News alerts, social media tags, text messages from numbers I did not recognize.

The articles were brutal.

They described me as a manipulative housekeeper who had seduced her wealthy employer.

They accused Nathan of transferring over four million dollars into accounts under my maiden name.