Chapter 1: The Woman He Never Paid
"My wife isn't a wife.
She's the best housekeeper I've ever had…
and the best part is, I don't even have to pay her."
The laughter from some of the guests faded almost immediately.
In the garden of his enormous house in Paradise Valley, Bradley Hill held a pair of tongs in front of the grill, waiting for someone to laugh at his "joke." He had organized a barbecue for his birthday and, as always, felt like the most important man at the gathering.
At forty-seven, Bradley lived surrounded by luxuries inherited from his father: land, investments, properties, and connections.
He loved saying that everything he had was the result of his intelligence, although those who knew him well understood that he had practically been handed a life with everything already taken care of.
His second wife, Nora, was thirty.
She was quiet, polite, and discreet.
She had grown up with very little money in New Mexico.
Her biological mother passed away when she was a teenager, and a family friend and his wife eventually took her in.
She studied Accounting, but started working at a very young age and, after marrying Bradley, stopped looking for a job because he insisted that "a respectable wife should take care of her home."
During the first few months, Nora believed that was love.
Then she understood that Bradley didn't want a partner.
He wanted convenience.
She cooked, organized gatherings, ironed his shirts, picked out his ties, kept the house spotless, and welcomed his guests with a smile.
Bradley, meanwhile, disappeared for days at a time under the excuse of handling business.
He had also made it clear that he didn't want any more children.
"I already have two from my first marriage.
I don't need to start over."
Nora dreamed of becoming a mother, but she learned to stay quiet.
Until that afternoon.
After hearing her own husband call her a free maid in front of fifteen people, she calmly set down the knife she had been using to chop onions.
She didn't cry.
She didn't argue.
She took off her apron, slipped a hand into the pocket, and pulled out a folded sheet of paper.
"What a coincidence that you said that, Bradley.
I actually have some news about my talent as a 'maid.'"
He smiled, believing she was going along with the joke.
"Well, surprise us."
Nora unfolded the document.
"A few weeks ago, I entered a competition organized by a national domestic staffing agency.
There were one hundred practical cases involving household management, cooking, organization, emergencies, and caregiving.
I came in first."
No one laughed.
"And what does that mean?" Bradley asked.
"It means I'm moving on to the final stage."
One of the guests leaned forward.
"What stage?"
"Three months working in the home of a person selected by the agency.
If I receive an outstanding evaluation, I'll win a prize worth several million dollars, provided by sponsors, along with a trip."
Bradley's expression shifted.
"Three months?"
"Yes."
"Living in someone else's house?"
"That's right."
He placed the tongs down on the grill.
"You're not going."
Nora looked him directly in the eyes for the first time in a long time.
"The contract is already signed."
The tension was so obvious that several guests began saying their goodbyes just minutes later.
That night, Bradley expected to find Nora regretting her decision.
Instead, he found the master bedroom empty.
She had moved her things into the guest room.
Two weeks later, she received the address where she would complete the trial.
The owner's name was Conrad Vance.
He was thirty-eight, lived alone in a modest house south of Flagstaff, and worked as a specialized instructor after suffering serious injuries during a security mission years earlier.
Bradley looked into his name.
After reading what little he could find, he never again told Nora that she couldn't go.
He simply thought that Nora would come back humiliated, and then he would show her who was really in charge of their marriage.
But when he watched her load her suitcase into the agency's car, he felt for the first time that something was slipping out of his hands.
And Nora, as she drove away from that mansion, had no idea what was about to happen either…
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What will Bradley do when Nora stops coming home — and starts building a life he never saw coming?
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