When my husband kicked me out, I started cleaning at his company. But one day…

Marble Floors & Gray Water

Chapter One: The Bucket

Lydia Brooks never imagined that her life would one day fit inside a plastic bucket filled with gray water. As she knelt on the cold marble floor of Miller and Stone Holdings, the company she once helped build, she heard footsteps echo down the hallway.

The young secretary, Eevee Carter, stepped out of the reception area with streaks of mascara running down her cheeks. She looked terrified.

“Miss Brooks,” she whispered, voice trembling. “Please listen to me. Something is about to happen.”

Before Lydia could respond, Eevee grabbed her wrist with trembling fingers. Her voice cracked as she spoke again. “Hide right now. You need to hear this. It’s about you.”

Eevee pushed her toward the open doorway of the executive office. Lydia had not stepped inside that room in months. Not since the night her husband, Grant Miller, locked her out of their home and told her she was no longer part of his future. But there was no time to hesitate. The tension in Eevee’s voice was too real to ignore.

The moment Lydia ducked beneath the massive oak desk, the world shifted. She pressed her palms to the carpet, her heart pounding like a warning drum. Whatever was coming, she sensed it would shatter the last pieces of the life she once knew. And the story of how she got here, hiding like a fugitive in the office she helped design, all began long before this moment. It began with the day everything was taken from her.

Chapter Two: The Unraveling

Before everything fell apart, Lydia Brooks lived a life that looked steady from the outside. She had spent nearly a decade helping her husband Grant Miller transform a small furniture startup into a multi-million dollar corporation. In the early years, they worked side by side, sharing cold sandwiches during late nights and drawing plans on napkins when ideas struck at random. Grant used to tell her that she was the backbone of the company. He used to say they were a team.

But success has a way of changing people. Grant became sharper, more polished, more obsessed with image.

Lydia, who once coordinated departments and managed high-profile clients, stepped back temporarily after a skiing accident damaged her knee. She walked with a slight limp for a few months, something Grant claimed made the company look unprofessional.

One evening, without warning, Grant placed her suitcase by the front door. His expression was calm, almost practiced.

“You don’t fit the direction I’m taking anymore,” he said. “You used to be useful, Lydia. Now you are slowing everything down.”

Those words sliced deeper than anything she expected. She left with two small children, Aiden and Maya, and moved into a modest apartment on the edge of Southport. Money was tight. She cooked simple meals, stretched every dollar, and tucked her kids into a bed that creaked whenever they rolled over.

When her savings ran out, she applied for work everywhere she could think of. The only steady job she found was as a janitor at the very company she once helped manage. She took the job without hesitation. Pride no longer mattered. Survival did.

As she scrubbed floors, no one noticed. She kept telling herself that this was temporary. She had no idea that something far worse than hardship was waiting for her.

Chapter Three: The Fall

Working as a janitor at Miller and Stone Holdings was nothing like Lydia remembered. The hallway she once walked with confidence now felt narrower, colder. Employees who used to greet her with warm smiles avoided eye contact, unsure how to react to her sudden fall from grace. Some whispered, others simply pretended she did not exist.

One morning, as she polished the glass railing outside the executive wing, the elevator chimed. Grant stepped out surrounded by two board members. His suit was tailored, his posture stiff with importance. Lydia kept her head down, hoping he would walk past without noticing.

He stopped directly in front of her.

“Make sure you get that corner,” he said loudly, pointing at a tiny smudge on the glass. “We cannot have the place looking like a dump.”

The board members exchanged awkward glances. Lydia nodded silently and continued wiping, her face burning. Grant smirked, clearly enjoying the moment. It was not enough for him to cast her out of their home. He needed to crush whatever dignity she had left.

As he walked away, she heard him laugh. She wanted to defend herself, to remind him of the years she had given to him and the company. But the words lodged in her throat. She could not risk losing the job that kept food on the table for Aiden and Maya.

Chapter Four: The Warning

That same afternoon, Eevee Carter hurried past her again, eyes glossy and unfocused. Lydia noticed fresh tears on the young woman’s lashes. Something was deeply wrong, but Lydia was too exhausted and too overwhelmed to ask.

She had no idea that Eevee was the only person left in the building who still cared enough to warn her.

Eevee Carter appeared again just before noon, her face pale and tense. She glanced over her shoulder as if someone were following her. When her eyes met Lydia’s, she gave the smallest shake of her head, a silent plea for her not to speak. Then she motioned for Lydia to follow.

Lydia hesitated. Eevee was young, barely in her twenties, and usually avoided drawing attention. Seeing her this rattled sent a cold ripple through Lydia’s chest. She set down her cleaning cart and trailed behind her toward the executive floor.

When they reached the large double doors of the conference room, Eevee whispered, “Hide under the desk. Do not come out no matter what you hear.”

Lydia froze.

“Hide!” The word felt absurd. She wanted to ask why, but Eevee’s expression told her everything she needed to know. Something dangerous was unfolding.

Lydia ducked beneath the polished oak table, pressing herself into the shadows just as footsteps approached. The door swung open. Grant entered with Logan Vance, a corporate attorney known for handling messy cases discreetly.

Grant spoke first, his tone confident and cold. “I set everything in motion. The fake company is ready. All the paperwork has her signature. Every transfer points to her.”

Lydia felt her stomach churn.

“Five million moved into her account this morning. When the auditors trace it, they will see one name. Lydia Brooks, she will be the thief. She will have no way out.”

Logan tapped his pen. “And her fingerprints.”

Grant chuckled softly. “She cleans every room in this building. Fingerprints are the least of our concerns.”

Lydia covered her mouth to stop a gasp. The betrayal went deeper than she imagined. Grant was not just trying to embarrass her. He was framing her for a crime that would destroy her life.

Then Grant said the words that made her blood run cold. “I already called the police. They will be here in less than an hour. It is time she disappears for good.”

Under the desk, Lydia squeezed her eyes shut. Her entire world was collapsing, and she had only minutes before everything was over.

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