Hannah Carter smoothed down her dark apron as she stepped through the grand glass doors.
The mansion foyer was bigger than any house she had ever set foot in before.
Bright light reflected off polished marble floors that looked as clear as a mirror.
Her four-year-old son Toby held her hand tightly while staring at the huge crystal chandelier overhead.
Hannah had taken this live-in housecleaning position because she desperately needed a steady income to support Toby.
Ever since her mother died three years ago, money had been extremely tight for their little family.
The agency told her that the Vance estate was strict, but the pay was generous enough to help.
She dropped her worn leather suitcase near the entryway wall and kneeled beside her small boy.
Toby looked anxious in the massive, quiet house and rubbed his tired eyes with his tiny fist.
Hannah wrapped her arms around him and whispered reassuring words gently into his soft ear.
She told him that everything was going to be alright and that this was their fresh new start.
As she hugged him, a distinct sound of loud heels clicking against the stone echoed nearby.
A blonde woman dressed in an expensive burgundy silk top walked briskly down the curved staircase.
Her sharp eyes swept over Hannah's simple black uniform and the small child standing beside her luggage.
This was Margarethe Vance, the manager of the estate and wife to the billionaire owner's late cousin.
Margarethe frowned deeply as she stepped closer to the new housemaid standing near the marble archway.
She demanded to know why a child was brought into a professional household without prior permission.
Hannah lowered her eyes respectfully and explained that the placement agency had approved her child's presence.
Margarethe crossed her arms tightly across her chest and sneered at the trembling young mother.
She warned Hannah that any mistake would result in immediate dismissal without any severance pay or references.
Toby began to cry quietly because the sharp tone of the strange woman frightened his young heart.
Hannah pulled him closer to her chest to soothe his fears and shelter him from the cold stare.
As she did so, a heavy silver chain slipped out from beneath the collar of her dark uniform shirt.
A uniquely engraved silver locket dangled in the bright hallway light, catching every surrounding reflection instantly.
At that exact moment, heavy footsteps approached from the right side of the spacious hallway corridors.
A tall man in a tailored dark blue suit stopped dead in his tracks a few feet away.
This was Arthur Vance, the wealthy head of the family business and owner of the grand estate.
His sharp blue eyes locked instantly onto the simple silver trinket hanging around the young maid's neck.