Chapter 2 - The Serpent in the Garden
The next morning, I navigated the Kensington penthouse with a new objective. I wasn't there to clean; I was there to observe. Atlas followed me everywhere, a hundred-pound shadow that made the household staff visibly nervous.
I focused on the housekeeper, Elena, a woman who had been with Jared for a decade. She was efficient, quiet, and her hands were always impeccably clean. Too clean.
"You like animals, Elena?" I asked while dusting the mantle.
May you like
She didn't look up from the vase she was polishing. "I tolerate them. They’re messy. Like people."
I noticed her glance at Atlas. It wasn't pity she showed him; it was contempt. My pulse quickened. Why would someone who had served Jared for ten years despise his most loyal companion? I realized then that the betrayal wasn't about the dog—it was about leverage against the man.
