Chapter 4 - The West WingSix months earlier, Clara had arrived at Sterling House believing she had found a dream job.
The salary was excellent.
The mansion was beautiful.
The hours were supposed to be reasonable.
She had imagined herself saving enough money to leave Newport with a new beginning.
Instead, the house became a prison.
The first warning came during her second week.
A maid dropped a porcelain plate.
Eleanor had fired her in front of everyone.
The second warning came when Clara accidentally entered the west wing.
Eleanor grabbed her wrist so hard that fingerprints remained for days.
“You don't go there.”
Clara never did again.
But the cameras remained.
Every hallway.
Every staircase.
Every service entrance.
Eleanor used them to monitor her employees.
She knew when someone whispered.
When someone took an extra five minutes.
When someone cried.
She called it management.
Clara called it fear.
And behind the walls of Sterling House, fear had become a language everyone understood.
Then came the night Clara was struck.
A glass had fallen.
Eleanor's son, Andrew, had been angry.
He blamed Clara.
Eleanor did nothing.
The next morning, Clara arrived at work with a bruise.
May you like
Nobody asked.
Until Marcus walked through the door.
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