The Trillionaire They Threw Away

The Sacking and Silence

"Daddy... yellow ones," Lily whispered, her small voice raspy as she chewed on a piece of soft apple. She leaned against the hospital pillows, a faint smile dimpling her cheeks. "The bright flowers. Like the sun."

Liam smiled, kissing her forehead. "I’ll get you the biggest bunch of sunflowers in the city, sweet angel. I promise."

By noon the next day, the doctors cleared Lily for discharge. Liam brought her back to the Vane mansion, his chest tight with anxiety. He couldn't afford to miss his grueling afternoon delivery shift; he desperately needed the cash to buy Lily’s flowers and start repaying Daniel’s life-saving fifty-thousand-dollar loan.

Standing in the staff quarters, Liam checked his phone one last time. Diana's line was still entirely dead. He turned to Sarah, a young, kind-hearted junior maid who had always shown Lily warmth.

"Sarah, please, I am begging you," Liam said, his eyes filled with desperation. "I have to go out for a four-hour delivery shift. Can you please stay in my room and look after Lily? Her seizure medication is on the counter. Don't leave her side."

Sarah nodded quickly, looking around nervously. "Don't worry, sir. I'll watch her. Just go quickly before Madam Gloria sees me in your quarters."

"Thank you, Sarah. I'll be back by five."

Liam ran his deliveries in a frenzy, pushing his old sedan to its absolute limits. At four-thirty, he stopped by a local florist and bought a massive, vibrant bouquet of yellow sunflowers. He smiled the entire drive back, imagining Lily’s arms opening wide at the sight of them.

When he pushed through the back entrance of the Vane mansion at five, the house was chillingly quiet.

He hurried up the narrow servant stairs to his cramped room. "Lily? Sarah? I'm back!"

He opened the door. The room was empty. Lily's favorite toy was on the floor, but her bed was cold. The medicine bottle hadn't been touched.

Panic seized his throat. He ran down the grand staircase, the sunflowers clutched tightly in his hand. Near the laundry room, he found Sarah sobbing, throwing her uniform and personal clothes into a battered duffel bag.

"Sarah!" Liam gasped, running to her. "Where is Lily? Why aren't you upstairs?"

Sarah looked up, her eyes red and swollen. "I'm so sorry, sir! I tried! I swear I tried!"

"Where is my daughter, Sarah?!" Liam’s voice cracked, a horrifying knot tightening in his stomach.

"Madam Gloria found me in your room two hours ago," Sarah wept, her voice trembling violently. "She dragged me out by my hair. She screamed at me, saying I was paid to clean the estate, not to babysit 'deformed, cursed garbage.' She sacked me on the spot and told me to get off the property."

Liam’s heart stopped. "Then where is Lily? Who is watching her?"

"I don't know!" Sarah cried, grabbing her bag. "Madam Gloria ordered the security guards to lock Lily out of the main house. She said your bad-luck blood belongs outside. I haven't seen her since!"

"Outdoors?" Liam whispered, the air leaving his lungs.

He went entirely crazy.

He dropped the sunflowers onto the floor and bolted. He tore through the mansion like a madman, his screams echoing off the high ceilings.

"Lily! Lily, where are you?!" He checked the kitchen, the basement, the pantry, tearing open closet doors until his hands bled. Nothing.

He ran into the grand living room. Raymond and Gloria were sitting on the velvet sofa, casually sipping tea while reading financial magazines.

"Where is my daughter?!" Liam roared, slamming his fists onto the glass coffee table, shattering a teacup. "What did you do to Lily?!"

Gloria didn't even flinch. She elegantly set her magazine down, looking at his wild eyes with pure, unadulterated amusement. "Look at this stray dog barking in our living room. Raymond, did you forget to lock the back gate?"

"Where is she, Gloria?!" Liam screamed, tears of absolute terror blinding his vision. "Sarah said you threw a two-year-old child who just had neuro-surgery outside! Where is my baby?!

"Lower your voice, trash," Raymond barked, his small hard eyes drilling into Liam. "You don't get to come into my house and shout at my wife. That broken brat of yours was making too much noise breathing. Gloria simply put her where she belongs—in the dirt."

"She is sick! She could have another seizure!" Liam choked out, his entire body shaking. "Tell me where she is right now!"

"Why should we care?" Gloria sneered, a venomous smirk spreading across her face. "If she dies outside, it's just the universe cleaning up your genetic filth. Don't look at us. Go search the gardens, garbage. Or maybe she crawled into a hole to match her father's status."

"Check the CCTV!" Liam begged, dropping his pride once more, his voice breaking as he looked at Raymond. "Please, Raymond! The security monitors cover the entire estate! Just let me look at the cameras for five minutes so I can see which direction she walked!"

Raymond let out a cold, mocking laugh. "Check the CCTV? For you? Vane security is meant to protect billions of dollars in assets, furniture!. It is not meant to track a worthless, defective brat. I wouldn't waste one watt of electricity to help you find your mistake. Now get out of my sight before I have the guards beat you senseless."

Liam stared at them, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Their apathy was demonic. They were actively letting a toddler wander into danger just to spite him.

With a shaking hand, he pulled out his phone and dialed Daniel. It rang once.

"Daniel... help me," Liam sobbed into the line, his voice completely ruined. "Lily is gone. The Vanes threw her out of the house while I was at work. They won't let me see the cameras. I can't find her, Daniel. I'm losing my mind."

"I'm three minutes away, Liam! Stay exactly where you are!" Daniel roared through the speaker.

True to his word, Daniel's truck slammed to a halt in the driveway moments later. He burst through the front doors, his face pale with panic, sprinting straight to Liam who was leaning against the hallway wall, hyperventilating.

"Liam! Have you checked the perimeter?!" Daniel asked instantly, gripping Liam's shoulders with iron strength to ground him.

"I've checked everywhere inside!" Liam wept, his hands clawing at his own hair. " I have also searched the gardens but they are too massive, Daniel. It’s getting dark. The Vanes won't give me the camera footage. I need to call the police! I have to call them right now!"

Daniel looked toward the living room, where Raymond and Gloria were watching them with cold, arrogant smirks. Daniel's jaw tightened, but he forced himself to stay rational. He pulled Liam closer, lowering his voice.

"Listen to me, Liam," Daniel whispered urgently. "The police will take thirty minutes just to file the paperwork, and the Vanes have enough political connections in this city to delay the cops from searching this private property for hours. We don't have that kind of time. If Lily is outside, we need to find her ourselves right now. Let’s search the immediate grounds together before we make that call. Trust me. Where is the one place she always goes when she's outside?"

“The playground and she's not there" Liam said weakly

“Any other place?"

“No other place….” Liam’s eyes widened through his tears, a horrifying, sickening realization slamming into his chest.

The swimming pool.