Chapter 6 - the night of the golden chandeliers
The wedding gala transformed Ashford House.
Florists covered the grand staircase in white roses. Musicians tuned their instruments beneath the ballroom chandeliers. Reporters gathered beyond the gates to photograph the union of Julian Ashford and Victoria Vale.
Mary Jane was told she would not attend.
Victoria entered her room shortly before sunset carrying a cream dress.
“You will wear this for one photograph.”
“Then what?”
“Then you will remain upstairs.”
“Julian said I could attend dinner.”
“Julian says many things before understanding what is appropriate.”
Mary Jane looked at the dress.
“My mother bought me one like it.”
“Your mother is not here.”
Mary Jane’s eyes filled with tears, but she did not look away.
“I recorded you.”
Victoria became completely still.
“What did you say?”
“In the office.”
Victoria closed the bedroom door.
“Where is the recorder?”
Mary Jane stepped back.
Victoria searched the desk, the wardrobe, and the suitcase. She found nothing.
She crouched in front of Mary Jane.
“Your mother made the mistake of believing information could protect her.”
“What happened to her?”
“You know what happened.”
“You said Mr. Adrian solved the problem.”
Victoria’s face hardened.
“Who told you that name?”
“I heard you.”
“Where is the recorder?”
Mary Jane remained silent.
Victoria took her arm and led her through the servants’ corridor. Her grip was firm enough to frighten the child but left no visible injury.
They descended to the service kitchen beneath the ballroom.
Victoria opened a narrow storage area beside the cabinets.
“You will remain here until the signing is complete.”
“Julian will look for me.”
“He will be standing in front of three hundred guests, signing the future away.”
Victoria took Mary Jane’s small handbag.
“If you shout, everyone will assume you are having another episode. Elias has prepared medical documents explaining your behavior.”
“They are lies.”
“Documents become truth when enough powerful people sign them.”
Victoria closed the storage door.
Mary Jane heard a lock turn.
For nearly an hour, she sat in darkness while music vibrated through the ceiling. She felt beneath her dress and found the recorder still secured to the inside seam. Victoria had taken the handbag but missed the hidden pocket.
The device contained several conversations.
The clearest recording had been made the previous night.
Victoria and Elias had spoken about A.V. Holdings, the guardianship transfer, and Eleanor’s accident. Before leaving the office, another person had entered.
Mary Jane never saw him.
She heard only his voice.
A deep voice distorted by the ventilation shaft.
“Once Julian signs, the girl and the entire estate will belong to me.”
Victoria had answered, “And Eleanor’s ledger?”
“Find it before the child remembers where her mother hid it.”
Mary Jane did not recognize the man.
But her mother’s old recorder contained another message in the same voice.
A message recorded weeks before Eleanor died.
You should never have opened Thomas Ashford’s files.
Mary Jane examined the storage door.
The old latch had a gap near the floor. She removed the brass key from beneath the blue ribbon sewn inside her dress and forced it into the mechanism.
The lock opened.
She crawled beneath the counter just as kitchen staff entered carrying empty trays.
No one saw her.
She remained hidden while speeches began upstairs.
Victoria’s voice echoed through the ballroom speakers.
“Tonight is not only a celebration of our future. It is the beginning of a unified legacy.”
Applause followed.
Mary Jane heard Elias announcing the signing ceremony.
Then the kitchen door opened.
Black shoes crossed the floor.
Mary Jane expected Victoria.
Instead, Julian crouched and looked beneath the counter.
His expression changed the instant he saw her.
Her curls were tangled. Her face showed mild marks from an earlier struggle against the storage door. She held the recorder against her chest.
“Mary Jane?”
She tried to speak, but fear closed her throat.
Julian reached toward her.
“Who did this to you?”
May you like
Mary Jane crawled into his arms.
From beyond the kitchen, Victoria’s footsteps approached.
