The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden - Recaptains

The basics

Title: The Housemaid’s Secret

Author: Freida McFadden

Series: The Housemaid #2

- The Housemaid (2022)
- The Housemaid's Secret (2023)
- The Housemaid is Watching (2024)

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Goodreads Summary:

t's hard to find an employer who doesn't ask too many questions about my past. So I thank my lucky stars that the Garricks miraculously give me a job, cleaning their stunning penthouse with views across the city and preparing fancy meals in their shiny kitchen. I can work here for a while, stay quiet until I get what I want. It's almost perfect. But I still haven't met Mrs Garrick, or seen inside the guest bedroom. I'm sure I hear her crying. I notice spots of blood around the neck of her white nightgowns when I'm doing laundry. And one day I can't help but knock on the door. When it gently swings open, what I see inside changes everything...

That's when I make a promise. After all, I've done this before. I can protect Mrs. Garrick while keeping my own secrets locked up safe. Douglas Garrick has done wrong. He is going to pay. It's simply a question of how far I'm willing to go...

Here is a spoiler summary of what happened in The Housemaid’s Secret by Freida McFadden to help refresh your memory before you read the sequel. If you need help remembering what happened in The Housemaid’s Secret then you’re in the right place.

What happened in The Housemaid’s Secret?

• Prologue: Someone is in a cabin surrounded by blood that’s not theirs. They hear footsteps approaching.
• Millie is housekeeping for a woman called Amber Degraw. She also helps babysit Amber’s daughter, Olive. Amber asks Millie to work overnight, and even though Millie has a psychology class that night she agrees. Unfortunately, Amber hears Olive call Millie “mama” and fires Millie.
• Millie is worried because it is difficult for her to get jobs with her criminal record.
• Brock, Millie’s boyfriend, visits her. They were meant to go on a date. Millie tells him she didn’t show up because she’s feeling stressed about paying rent. Brock offers to let her move in with him, but Millie declines.
• A few weeks later, Millie only has $200 left. She has been going to interviews but none have been successful.
• Millie is interviewed by Douglas Garrick, who lives in the Upper West Side. On the way into the building Millie sees a black car that she thinks she might recognise.
• Garrick says his wife, Wendy, isn’t feeling well and needs help cooking and cleaning. Millie interviews well and is offered the job.
• Millie learns about the bystander effect in class.
• Brock and Millie are supposed to go and celebrate her new job. Millie mentions the bystander effect and the case that was covered in class, but Brock thinks people often teach it and leave out key information.
• Brock tells Millie that Garrick is the CEO of a huge company called Coinstock.
• Brock says his parents want to meet Millie. She’s not keen because Brock doesn’t know about her past.
• Millie heads to the Garrick’s apartment. She tries to introduce herself to Wendy but she won’t open the door. Millie cooks dinner and then leaves once Douglas shows up.
• A month later, Millie still hasn’t met Wendy. She hears her crying in the bedroom and asks to check on her. Wendy tells her to leave her alone.
• Douglas returns home with flowers and a bracelet. Millie tells him about the crying and Douglas tells Millie to leave Wendy alone.
• Millie wants to help Wendy but she hasn’t been getting involved in marital issues since Enzo left her.
• Enzo’s mother in Sicily fell ill and so he went back there to look after her. Previously he wasn’t able to go to Sicily because he had upset some powerful people.
• Millie bumps into a neighbour called Xavier, who somehow knows her name. He wants to go grocery shopping with her but that’s weird so Millie doesn’t let him.
• At work, Millie hears shouting. Douglas tells Millie to put the groceries down and leave. He tells her to return the diamond bracelet to the shop for him.
• Xavier appears again and grabs Millie. Millie shoves him down the stairs and calls the police.
• The police arrive along with an ambulance. The male cop asks Millie what she was wearing when Xavier attacked her. Xavier is claiming nothing happened.
• Millie decides to stay with Brock.
• Millie notices a blood stain on one of Wendy’s nightgowns.
• The male cop calls Millie to tell her Xavier won’t be pressing charges.
• Millie tells Brock she wants to move in with him. Brock is thrilled.
• Millie spots Garrick walking about with a woman who isn’t Wendy. Millie follows them to a house, where they go inside. Millie spots the black car outside and writes down the number plate. She wonders if Douglas has been following her.
• Millie packs up her things. 
• Xavier gets arrested when heroin is found in his apartment. Millie is surprised at this, but she’s happy because she now doesn’t need to move in with Brock. Brock is sad.
• At work, Millie finds a bloody handprint on the sink and some drops of blood on the floor. Millie knocks on the door and when Wendy opens it she sees that she’s covered in bruises. Wendy blames this on her meds. Wendy tells Millie not to get involved any further.
• After class, Millie bumps into Amber. Amber says she saw that Millie is working for Garrick now. Olive calls Millie “mama” again so Amber leaves.
• Millie learns that her housekeeping advert was never posted because the payment was declined. She wonders how Garrick found out about her. She asks Garrick and he says Wendy got it.
• Millie speaks to Wendy again. Wendy says she got Millie’s information from a woman called Ginger, who Millie does know because she and Enzo helped her with a domestic situation. Millie asks why Wendy wanted Douglas to hire her. Wendy says Douglas is abusing her.
• Wendy asks Millie to get rid of some of her expensive jewellery,
• Wendy tells Millie that she has called a friend who has offered her a place to stay. Wendy would like Millie to drive her there, and Millie agrees.
• Millie hires a car and starts driving Wendy the five hours to upstate New York. Millie spots the black car again but it doesn’t follow her to the highway so she thinks it’s a coincidence.
• Wendy wants to stop at McDonalds. While they’re stopped, Millie calls Brock to apologise for not cancelling on him and forgetting about their plans. 
• They reach the motel where Fiona is going to pick up Wendy. Millie helps Wendy check in and drives home.
• Millie sees the black car again after she drops off the rental. Enzo is driving. He says he has been back for ages and has been watching her.
• Enzo tells Millie that his mother died and he wanted to return because he loves Millie. He admits he was the one who planted heroin in Xavier’s apartment.
• Brock suggests that Millie should take a job at his law firm.
• Wendy calls and tells Millie that Douglas found her and brought her back to New York. Millie leaves to head to the apartment.
• Wendy tells Millie that Douglas was waiting at the farm for her.
• Wendy shows Millie a gun that she found hidden in a book on the bookshelf.
• Douglas calls and says that Millie is no longer needed as Wendy is feeling better. He offers Millie some tickets to a Mets game, which Millie thinks is weird and creepy because she’s currently wearing a Mets shirt. She asks Brock to come over and be with her.
• Millie cleans for the Garricks for the final time. Douglas and Wendy argue because Wendy went for lunch with a friend. Douglas is worried about people seeing Wendy’s bruised face and think he was to blame. It sounds like he’s choking Wendy so Millie grabs the gun and goes into the room.
• Millie shoots Douglas.
• Wendy helps Millie leave the apartment through the back where there are no cameras. Wendy says she will take care of the body.
• Millie tells Brock she’s not feeling well.
• Detective Ramirez shows up and questions Millie about Douglas’ death. Millie calls Brock and they meet at the station. She wants him to represent her as her lawyer.
• Millie finally tells Brock about her criminal record. Brock asks why the police might think she killed Douglas and why they’re searching her apartment. Millie says she doesn’t know.
• Millie tells Ramirez that she cleaned the apartment as usual and left at 6.30. Ramirez accuses Millie of having a relationship with Douglas. Millie realises the texts that Douglas has been sending her could send the wrong message.
• The police also have the bracelet that Wendy asked her to get rid of. It has an inscription that could sound like it’s meant for Millie. They also bring up the motel room that Millie rented (for Wendy) and point out that Douglas had a business meeting at the motel that night.
• Ramirez suggests that Douglas broke off the affair and Millie shot him. Millie’s prints are on the gun. Wendy told the police about the affair.
• Millie tells the police that Douglas was abusing Wendy and that she was trying to help her.
• Brock gets upset and tells Millie he can’t represent her, or be with her either.
• Millie is let go but told not to leave town.
• Millie’s landlord tells her she needs to move out because she keeps bringing the police around.
• Millie sees Wendy on TV without any bruises. The TV pulls up a photo of Douglas, and Millie has never seen him before. She must have been talking to someone else.
• Wendy thinks about how her husband, Douglas, was making her life miserable. She met him four years ago at an art gallery. She wanted to get with him because he was rich. After a year they got engaged, but she didn’t really like him. His lawyer suggested a prenup, and Douglas was hesitant at first but Douglas eventually agrees. Wendy would only get $10 million if they were to divorce. 
• Wendy convinced Douglas to get them an apartment in the city, as she wasn’t a huge fan of the house on Long Island.
• Wendy is friends with Amber and Ginger. Amber tells Wendy about how someone called Millie helped Ginger get out of an abusive relationship. 
• Wendy goes to a furniture store at the recommendation of Douglas’ receptionist, Marybeth. She meets Marybeth’s husband, Russell, and thinks he looks a lot like Douglas. Wendy and Russell start having an affair.
• Wendy and Russell go for dinner and her card gets declined. Douglas won’t answer the phone, so she returns home to confront him. Douglas knows about the affair and suggests they go to therapy together. Wendy tells Douglas she wants a divorce and that she’ll take the $10 million. Douglas says she won’t get any money as the marriage will end because of an affair, and Douglas has all the evidence.
• Douglas cuts Wendy out of the accounts and tells her he’ll be selling the apartment.
• Wendy starts planning to kill her husband so she can take his millions. She will need to involve Millie.
• Wendy gets Russell to punch her in the face so she can have a split lip and really sell it.
• When Millie shot Russell, who was pretending to be Douglas, the gun was loaded with blanks. Once Millie fled, Wendy loaded the gun with bullets and called Douglas over, telling him she wants to sign the divorce papers. The plan was for Russell to shoot Douglas once he arrived, but Russell doesn’t want to. He suggests they both just get divorced without any murdering drama.
• Douglas suggests he gives his money away as it’s just causing problems. Wendy shoots him.
• Millie calls Enzo for help. He looked up the Garricks and learned about the house on Long Island. Enzo suggests that the person Millie shot might not be dead.
• Enzo and Millie decide to track down Fake Douglas.
• Millie and Enzo head to the house that Millie saw Fake Douglas and a random woman enter. The random woman comes out and Enzo approaches her and asks some questions. He learns that she’s Douglas Garrick’s receptionist. Fake Douglas is this woman’s husband, Russell, who is still alive.
• Enzo learns that Russell owns a cabin near a lake.
• Brock calls Millie to apologise. He also tells Millie that her clothes tested positive for gunshot residue. He wishes her luck.
• Millie wants to go to this cabin to find Wendy and Russell.
• At the cabin, Wendy and Russell are celebrating. Wendy notices an open window and closes it.
• Wendy tries to reassure and distract Russell from what they’ve done. Russell is not happy. They drink wine in the hot tub together.
• Douglas’ lawyer calls Wendy. He informs Wendy that Douglas amended his will the previous month and decided to leave everything to charity. The lawyer tells Wendy she’ll need to vacate the apartment as it’ll be sold.
• Ramirez calls Wendy and tells her they plan to arrest Millie. They went to her apartment but she was missing. Ramirez tells Wendy that a security camera had actually been installed in the back stairwell of the apartment by Douglas, and the tapes show that Douglas hadn’t been to the apartment for ages. Ramirez comments that it’d be difficult for Millie to have an affair if Douglas wasn’t ever present.
• Ramirez points out that Millie left the apartment before Douglas even arrived. He wants to pick Wendy up and bring her to the station to discuss this further.
• Wendy goes to find Russell and finds his body instead.
• Wendy knows Millie is around and calls her name. Wendy slips over in the pool of Russell’s blood. She sees Millie’s silhouette approaching and offers Millie money.
• Wendy realises it’s actually Marybeth holding the knife. Marybeth tells Wendy she ruined her marriage. Wendy admits to killing Douglas when asked. Marybeth tells Wendy to write up a confession and a suicide note. Wendy does what she’s told.
• Marybeth tells Wendy that she drugged the wine and she’s about to have an overdose.
• Millie wakes up in Enzo’s car to a bunch of missed calls from the NYPD and Enzo. She calls Enzo first, who tells her that Wendy is dead. She took her own life.
• Ramirez speaks to Millie and tells her what happened with the cameras and the confession. Ramirez tells Millie that he knows she helps victims of domestic violence and he approves. He gives Millie his card because he’s keen to help should she need it.
• Three months later, Enzo is living with Millie in her apartment which she didn’t need to vacate in the end. 
• Brock shows up and Millie gives him his things that he left there. He asks Millie if his bottle of heart medication is in there and she says it isn’t. 
• Millie recalls the night at the cabin. Millie spoke to Marybeth and gave her Brock’s bottle of medication. Marybeth decided to go to the cabin and sort things out, a decision helped by Russell’s life insurance policy.
• Millie considers how easy Wendy could have had it if she had just pretended Douglas had accidentally overdosed.

That’s what happened in The Housemaid‘s Secret! Check out our recap list for more recaps. If you can’t find what you need, you can request a recap from us!

Other recaps for this series:

• The Housemaid (The Housemaid #1)