Chapter 4 - Victoria’s Warning
Two days after Victoria noticed the brass key, Emily received a message requesting her presence in the restaurant’s private lounge.
Victoria was waiting alone.
She wore an ivory suit and diamond earrings. A folder rested on the table beside her.
“Sit down,” she said.
Emily remained standing.
“I’m working.”
“You will want to hear what I have to say.”
Emily glanced toward the door. Julian was standing outside, pretending not to watch.
“What do you want?”
Victoria opened the folder.
Inside were copies of Rose’s medical bills and Emily’s employment records.
Emily’s stomach tightened.
“How did you get those?”
“Information is easy to obtain when people know where to look.”
“You had no right.”
Victoria ignored the accusation.
“You owe more than forty thousand dollars.”
“That is none of your business.”
“I can make it disappear.”
Emily stared at her.
“In exchange for what?”
Victoria’s eyes moved toward the brass key.
“You give me that.”
Emily covered it with her hand.
“No.”
“It is a cheap piece of metal.”
“Then why do you want it?”
Victoria leaned back.
“Because it resembles something stolen from my family.”
“My mother gave it to me.”
“Your mother was Rose Carter.”
“She raised me. She wasn’t my biological mother.”
For the first time, Victoria looked genuinely alarmed.
“What was your biological mother’s name?”
Emily remembered Rose’s warning.
Powerful people were searching for her baby.
“I don’t know.”
Victoria studied her face.
“You are lying.”
“So are you.”
Emily turned toward the door.
Victoria’s voice stopped her.
“People who dig into old graves sometimes fall into them.”
Emily faced her again.
“Is that a threat?”
“It is advice.”
“You recognized the key.”
Victoria’s expression hardened.
“I recognized stolen property.”
“Then call the police.”
The silence that followed confirmed Emily’s suspicion.
Victoria could not involve the police.
Not without answering questions.
Emily opened the door and found Julian standing directly outside.
He stepped aside.
Victoria spoke before Emily could leave.
“You should think carefully about your future.”
Emily looked back.
“For the first time, I am.”
That night, Victoria called Conrad Hawthorne.
She did not know that Julian was inside the manager’s office next door, where the ventilation grate carried every word.
“The girl has Elena’s key,” Victoria said.
A man answered through the speaker.
“Then Rose lied to us.”
“She’s dead.”
“And the girl?”
“She works here.”
There was a long pause.
“Keep her close,” Conrad ordered. “Do not let Arthur Lancaster see her.”
Julian stood motionless in the dark office.
He had spent years ignoring insults, threats, and corruption whenever wealthy customers were involved.
But this was different.
For the first time, he understood that Emily might be in real danger.
He also understood that Victoria expected his cooperation.
Julian should have warned Emily.
May you like
Instead, he chose the restaurant’s reputation.
And that decision would soon cost him everything.
