Chương 2
Neither succeeded.
She still hummed while cleaning.
He still noticed when she stopped.
She still left a small bowl of water near the back door when she saw the stray cat outside.
He still complained that animals did not belong near the property.
The next morning, the bowl was still there.
Megan found it moved three feet closer to the bushes.
She looked at Dominic from across the hallway.
“You moved it.”
“No.”
“It was by the door.”
“It was in the wrong place.”
“So you moved it.”
“I relocated it.”
“That is the same thing.”
Dominic continued reading the document in his hand.
Megan smiled slightly.
She did not know if he saw.
He did.
The first time Dominic laughed in years happened because of a broken printer.
It was not a real laugh.
More like a short sound that escaped before he could stop it.
Megan stared at him.
“Did you just laugh?”
“No.”
“You definitely did.”
“The printer made an unusual noise.”
“The printer did not make a joke.”
“I am aware.”
“Then I’m counting it.”
“Counting what?”
“The laugh.”
“There was no laugh.”
Megan nodded seriously.
“Sure.”
He looked away.
But for the rest of the afternoon, the corner of his mouth betrayed him whenever he remembered her expression.
The change was small.
That was why it frightened him.
Large things were easier to understand.
Large things had explanations.
Small things entered quietly.
They became habits before anyone noticed.
Then the company problem arrived.
Dominic’s assistant, Richard Hale, came to the estate on a rainy Thursday morning with a folder Dominic had not requested.
That alone was unusual.
Richard had worked with Dominic for seven years.
He knew better than to bring surprises.
“You need to sign this today.”
Dominic looked at the papers.
“What is it?”
“A temporary authorization agreement.”
“For what?”
Richard hesitated.
That hesitation mattered.
Dominic opened the folder.
The signature page was familiar.
The company logo was familiar.
The name beneath the agreement was not.
“Why is my father’s old holding company listed here?”
Richard looked toward the office door.
“Because someone activated it.”
Dominic’s fingers stopped moving.
“That company was dissolved.”
“Officially.”
The word sat between them.
Megan, passing the hallway outside, slowed when she heard voices.
She did not stop.
She knew better.
But she noticed Dominic’s expression when she returned with the cleaning supplies.
He was no longer angry.
He looked like a man who had just opened a door he believed was locked forever.
That evening, Dominic searched through old records until midnight.
Megan did not know what he found.
She only knew something changed.
The next day, Nancy told her there would be no work in the west wing.
“Why?”
“Mr. Mason’s orders.”
“Did he say why?”
“No.”
Megan looked toward the closed hallway.
Something about the answer bothered her.
Not because she wanted to know his secrets.
Because secrets inside wealthy houses usually became problems for the people cleaning them.
That night, she stayed late because Nancy needed help after another employee called out sick.
She brought Jason with her because her babysitter canceled at the last minute.
She planned to finish quickly and leave before Dominic noticed.
She did not expect to find him in the library, staring at an old file box with his father’s handwriting on the label.
“You’re still here.”
Megan adjusted Jason on her shoulder.
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Dominic looked at the child.
“He’s sick.”
“Just a fever.”
“You should take him home.”
“I tried.”
She gave a tired smile.
“The world did not cooperate.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Dominic reached toward the desk.
“There’s a guest room.”
Megan looked surprised.
“I’m not sleeping here.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“Good.”
“I meant your son.”
Her expression softened slightly.
“I can handle it.”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t.”
The answer caught her off guard.
It was the first time he had defended her without making it sound like criticism.
Hours later, Dominic woke to the sound of someone coughing.
He opened his bedroom door and found Megan sitting in the hallway outside the guest room, holding Jason against her chest.
The child had fallen asleep.
Megan looked exhausted.
“I thought you were leaving.”
“I was.”
She glanced at Jason.
“Then his fever went up.”
Dominic looked at the thermometer beside her.
Then at the unopened medicine bottle.
Then at Megan’s shaking hands.
“You should have told someone.”
“Who?”
The question stopped him.
She looked down.
“Everyone here works for you.”
Dominic had no answer.
For the first time, he saw the problem was not that she refused help.
It was that she did not believe help existed.
Before he could respond, his phone rang.
Richard’s name appeared on the screen.
Dominic answered.
The color slowly disappeared from his face.
“What do you mean she signed it?”
Megan looked up.
Dominic stared at the dark hallway.
“Who has access to my father’s documents?”
A silence followed.
Then Richard said something that made Dominic grip the phone tighter.
Because the name Richard gave him was Megan Foster.
The Hidden Agreement Inside Dominic Mason's House That Changed Everything Before Anyone Was Ready
Dominic kept the phone pressed against his ear long after Richard stopped speaking.
The name remained in his mind with a strange, impossible weight.
Megan Foster.
For several seconds, he forgot the feverish child sleeping in the guest room.
He forgot the old file box on the library table.
He forgot that Megan was standing only a few feet away, watching the expression on his face change.
“Say that again.”
Richard’s voice lowered.
“I said the access request came through her credentials.”
“That is not possible.”
“I checked twice.”
Dominic looked toward Megan.
She immediately noticed.
Not the anger.
The uncertainty beneath it.
That was worse.
“What happened?” she asked.
Dominic ended the call.
“Why do you have access to my father’s records?”
May you like
Megan stared at him.
The question was so unexpected that for a moment she looked offended instead of afraid.
