Chapter 5 - THE SILVER LOCKET
Mrs. Greene pulled Emily behind a row of shelves just as the steel door opened.
Richard entered first.
Ashley followed him, holding a small silver locket.
Emily’s blood ran cold.
She remembered the warning in her mother’s letter.
Do not trust the person who brings you the silver locket.
Ashley placed the locket on the table.
“You said Emily’s file was here.”
“It was supposed to be destroyed twenty years ago,” Richard said.
“Then why does Daniel have a copy?”
Emily’s heart pounded.
Daniel knew about the file.
Richard picked up the photograph taken outside Thomas’s shop.
“My son knows only fragments.”
“He knew enough to marry her.”
“He married her because he loved her.”
Ashley’s expression twisted.
“That is not what you told me.”
“I told you the marriage could be useful.”
“You told me he would leave her once the trust transferred.”
Richard turned sharply.
“Lower your voice.”
Ashley laughed bitterly.
“You brought me into this house. You gave me access to his office. You told me which messages to send and which records to change. Now Daniel is asking questions, and you want me to remain calm?”
“Daniel is on another continent.”
“He left Europe yesterday.”
Richard froze.
Emily pressed a hand over her mouth.
Daniel was coming home.
“How do you know?” Richard asked.
“I checked the aviation records. His company aircraft landed in New York this morning.”
“He was supposed to remain in Zurich.”
“Then someone warned him.”
Richard looked toward the shelves.
For one terrifying second, Emily thought he could hear her breathing.
“Where is Martin Vale?” he asked.
Ashley crossed her arms.
“He hasn’t answered my calls.”
“Find him.”
“And Emily?”
“She must sign the foundation documents tomorrow.”
“She won’t.”
“She will if she believes Daniel has chosen you.”
Ashley touched the silver locket.
“Then let me show her the photograph.”
“No.”
“It will destroy her.”
“It may also make her suspicious.”
“She already is.”
Richard paced once across the room.
“Tomorrow night, she signs. After that, the trust becomes part of the foundation reserve. Once transferred, the assets can be moved beyond her reach.”
“And Daniel?”
“He will be told that Emily left after discovering the affair.”
Ashley smiled slightly.
“There is no affair.”
“There will be evidence of one.”
Emily’s knees nearly gave way.
Richard continued.
“Messages from Daniel’s private account have already been prepared. Hotel footage has been altered. Jewelry purchases will appear in your name.”
“The emerald earrings?”
“A useful detail.”
Ashley’s smile returned.
“And the necklace?”
Richard looked at the velvet jewelry box in her hand.
“You will wear it at the banquet after Emily signs.”
Emily recognized the box.
It was the same kind Daniel used when purchasing jewelry from the family’s preferred jeweler.
Ashley opened it.
Inside lay a diamond necklace.
“He chose this for me?” she asked.
Richard’s expression shifted.
“No. Daniel purchased it four days ago.”
“For whom?”
Richard stared at the necklace.
“That is what concerns me.”
Footsteps sounded outside the hidden room.
Richard closed the jewelry box.
“Someone is coming.”
He and Ashley left quickly, sealing the door behind them.
Emily remained motionless until their voices disappeared.
Then Mrs. Greene whispered, “Mr. Daniel never betrayed you.”
Emily looked at the closed door.
“We don’t know that.”
“We heard them.”
“We heard Richard say Daniel bought a necklace. We heard Ashley say Daniel has a copy of my file. We heard that my marriage might have been useful.”
“But he is coming home early.”
“Without calling me.”
Emily stared at her mother’s letter.
A terrible possibility formed.
“What if Daniel didn’t marry me for Richard?”
Mrs. Greene frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“What if Daniel married me because he already knew who my mother was?”
Emily gathered the file.
“Either he is trying to protect me, or he has been lying since the day we met.”
As they prepared to leave, Mrs. Greene noticed a narrow drawer beneath the central table.
Inside was a digital recorder.
The screen showed one saved file.
The date was from the night Emily’s mother died.
Emily pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then her mother’s voice spoke.
“Richard, if anything happens to me, Emily receives everything.”
A man answered.
“You should never have come back.”
Emily recognized the voice.
It did not belong to Richard.
It belonged to Daniel’s late uncle, Charles Blackwood.
Then a third voice entered the recording.
A young man.
The recording was distorted, but Emily heard him say:
“Laura, give me the documents. I can protect your daughter.”
Emily stopped the recording.
May you like
The young voice sounded impossibly familiar.
It sounded like her father.
