Chapter 5 - the heir marked as a decoy
Alexander read the word three times.
Decoy.
The handwriting was fresh. The ink had not fully dried.
Someone had circled his name that night.
“Beatrice wanted us to find this,” he said.
“Why?” Seraphina asked.
“To make me doubt my father.”
“She could have written it herself.”
“She could have.”
Daniel photographed the document.
“Until we authenticate the ink and handwriting, we treat it as manipulation.”
Alexander folded the paper carefully.
“Beatrice is still fleeing with the missing folder.”
“She will not go far,” Daniel said. “The bridges are monitored.”
“She controlled this estate for twelve years. She has routes we know nothing about.”
They returned to the ballroom through the underground passage.
The guests had been gathered beneath the chandeliers. Most were holding phones, but the manor’s network had been disabled, preventing footage from being uploaded.
Victoria sat alone on the lower staircase.
When she saw them, she stood.
“Did you find her?”
“No,” Alexander said.
“She left me.”
“You helped her attack my wife.”
Victoria flinched.
“I never knew Seraphina was pregnant.”
“Would that have made your actions acceptable?”
“No.”
“You believed she was a servant, so you believed no one important would object.”
Victoria looked down.
Alexander’s anger did not soften.
“You will remain here until the police arrive.”
Her head snapped up.
“Police?”
“You assaulted someone in front of witnesses.”
“My father can settle this.”
“This is not a business dispute.”
Victoria’s father stepped forward.
“Alexander, let us speak privately.”
“No.”
“We have known one another for years.”
“You knew your daughter intended to announce an engagement I never accepted.”
“I knew Beatrice promised an alliance.”
“And you never asked whether I agreed.”
Mr. Ashcroft’s expression became guarded.
“Families such as ours do not survive by asking permission for every necessary arrangement.”
Seraphina stepped beside Alexander.
“Families like yours survive because people are frightened to say no.”
Mr. Ashcroft examined her maid’s uniform.
“You have no understanding of what is at stake.”
Seraphina held up the brass key.
“I understand more than you think.”
His face changed.
He recognized it.
Alexander saw the reaction.
“You know this symbol.”
Mr. Ashcroft turned away.
Daniel moved between him and the door.
“Answer him.”
“It is an old foundation emblem.”
“Wren?” Seraphina asked.
Mr. Ashcroft said nothing.
Victoria looked at her father.
“What is Wren?”
“A mistake made before you were born.”
“You told me the paper was evidence against Alexander.”
“I told you to follow Beatrice’s instructions.”
“You knew she wanted me to attack Seraphina?”
“I knew she wanted that woman removed from the gala.”
Victoria’s voice trembled.
“You used me.”
Her father lowered his voice.
“Control yourself.”
“You let me believe Alexander would marry me.”
“That marriage would have protected our company.”
“From what?”
Mr. Ashcroft glanced at the guests.
Victoria understood.
“Ashcroft International is failing.”
“Not here.”
“How much do we owe?”
“Victoria.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
The answer destroyed the last of her composure.
Victoria removed the diamond bracelet her father had given her that morning and dropped it on the floor.
“You said it came from Grandmother.”
“It belonged to her.”
“You sold her jewelry ten years ago.”
Mr. Ashcroft’s silence confirmed it.
Victoria laughed once, without humor.
“Was any part of tonight real?”
Seraphina watched the realization settle over her.
Victoria had been cruel because she believed cruelty proved her importance. Now she was discovering that the people who taught her that lesson considered her expendable.
It did not excuse what she had done.
But it made her useful.
“Victoria,” Seraphina said, “what exactly did Beatrice promise your father?”
Mr. Ashcroft intervened.
“She has nothing to say.”
Victoria faced Seraphina.
“She promised to erase our debt if I became Alexander’s wife.”
Alexander frowned.
“Beatrice does not control enough personal capital to erase Ashcroft debt.”
“She said the money would come from a private trust.”
“Wren,” Seraphina said.
Victoria nodded.
“She said after the marriage, Alexander would sign documents giving the board access.”
“I would never sign them.”
“You would if she suspended your authority and appointed me as your representative.”
Alexander looked at the board members gathered near the stage.
Several avoided his eyes.
The trap had been larger than an unwanted engagement.
Beatrice planned to use the marriage-review provision to suspend Alexander. Victoria would become his legal proxy. The board would authorize access to the Wren Trust.
But the plan required Alexander to remain unaware of his own marriage.
Seraphina’s existence ruined everything.
Daniel’s phone vibrated as the manor network returned.
He read the incoming message.
“We have located Beatrice’s car.”
“Where?” Alexander asked.
“Near the old Vale airfield.”
“Send the police.”
“They are already moving.”
Daniel continued reading.
“The car is empty.”
Seraphina felt a chill.
“What about the missing folder?”
“Gone.”
A second message arrived.
Daniel’s expression changed.
“What is it?” Alexander asked.
“The airfield log shows a private aircraft departed nine minutes before the gala began.”
“Then Beatrice could not have been on it.”
“No.”
“Who was?”
Daniel turned the phone around.
May you like
The departure had been authorized under the name Lucien Vale.
Alexander’s dead father.
