**The Woman on the Marble Floor**
The
afternoon crowd at Beverly Hills Galleria was unusually heavy.
Luxury stores filled both sides of the enormous marble atrium, while
sunlight poured through the glass ceiling and scattered across the polished
floor.
Emily Carter walked carefully through the crowd.
At eight months pregnant, she had learned to move slowly.
One hand rested beneath her stomach while the other carried a small
shopping bag containing a pair of blue baby shoes.
She smiled when the baby moved.
"Almost time," she whispered.
She didn't notice the woman following her.
Sophia Carter had entered the mall twelve minutes earlier.
She wore a white designer dress, diamond earrings, and an expression of
complete calm.
But beneath that elegant appearance was something darker.
She had been watching Emily for weeks.
Watching her receive congratulations.
Watching relatives ask about the baby.
Watching Emily's husband rearrange his entire life around the coming
child.
Sophia had convinced herself that Emily had taken something from her.
She just couldn't explain exactly what.
Emily stopped near the central fountain.
She looked down at her phone.
A message from her husband appeared.
I love you. Don't overdo the shopping.
Emily smiled.
Then she heard a familiar voice.
"Emily."
She turned.
"Sophia?"
Sophia smiled.
"What a coincidence."
Emily had no idea that there was nothing accidental about the
meeting.
Sophia stepped closer.
They exchanged a brief hug.
Then Emily turned toward the parking garage.
She took two steps.
Sophia looked around.
For one second, nobody seemed to be watching.
Then she pushed her.
Hard.
Emily's body lurched forward.
Her hand reached for the railing.
Missed.
Her knees struck the marble.
Then her stomach.
The sound of her body hitting the floor echoed across the atrium.
People screamed.
Sophia stared at her for two seconds.
Then she deliberately threw herself onto the floor.
And began screaming louder than anyone.
"She pushed me!"
But one person in the crowd wasn't looking at Sophia.
A seven-year-old girl was staring at her.
And Lily had seen everything.
