Chapter 4 - THE PORTRAIT WITHOUT A NAME
Seraphina watched the video six times.
Each time, she paused at the reflection in the mirror.
The woman’s face remained hidden by light, but the Bellamy pendant was unmistakable. It had been passed through the family for generations. Edmund wore it beneath his shirt almost every day.
Seraphina had personally placed it in his coffin.
“How could she be wearing that?” Seraphina asked.
Mara enlarged the image.
“It could be a similar pendant.”
“It isn’t. Look at the broken edge.”
One corner of the silver crest had been damaged when Seraphina was a child. She had dropped the pendant onto a stone floor while playing in Edmund’s study.
The defect was visible in the video.
Marcus arrived at the apartment an hour later.
When he saw the portrait, the color left his face.
“You know her,” Seraphina said.
Marcus remained standing near the door.
“Who is she?”
“I don’t know her name.”
“That isn’t the same as not knowing her.”
Marcus removed his glasses and slowly cleaned them.
“I saw that portrait once, more than thirty years ago. It hung in your grandfather’s private residence in Vermont.”
“Why have I never heard about a residence in Vermont?”
“Because the property was sold after your grandmother died.”
“Who was the woman?”
“Your father told me she was a distant relative.”
Seraphina pointed toward the image.
“And you believed him?”
“No.”
“Then tell me what you believed.”
Marcus sat at the kitchen table.
“Your grandfather, Arthur Bellamy, did not originally own the majority of the company. Bellamy Holdings began as a partnership between Arthur and another investor.”
“The woman in the portrait?”
“Possibly.”
“What happened to her?”
“Her name vanished from the company records before your father joined the board.”
Mara opened her laptop.
“We reviewed the earliest available incorporation documents. Arthur Bellamy is identified as the sole founder.”
“Those records were amended,” Marcus said. “Your father discovered that shortly before he became ill.”
Seraphina felt anger rising inside her.
“Everyone keeps telling me what my father discovered, but no one told me anything while he was alive.”
“He was protecting you.”
“He left me inside a house with a man he believed was using me.”
Marcus looked down.
“Yes.”
The honesty of his answer silenced her.
After a moment, he continued.
“Edmund did not know how deeply Grant was involved. At first, he believed Grant was only ambitious. Later, he suspected Grant had been placed near you deliberately.”
“Placed by whom?”
“Northstar.”
Theo sat in the living room building tracks for his wooden train. Seraphina watched him through the doorway.
“Why would anyone wait decades to take control of Bellamy Holdings?”
“Perhaps they were not waiting,” Mara said. “Perhaps they were already inside.”
That afternoon, Grant filed an emergency custody petition.
He claimed Seraphina had taken Theo during a psychological crisis and hidden him at an unknown location.
Delaney released a statement expressing the family’s concern for Seraphina’s health.
By evening, news vans were parked outside the Bellamy estate.
Photographs of Seraphina leaving headquarters appeared on every major website. Headlines described her as distressed, unstable, and estranged from the company.
Grant appeared before the cameras looking exhausted and heartbroken.
“My only concern is the safety of my wife and son,” he said. “Seraphina has suffered greatly since her father’s death. I ask the public to respect our privacy while we bring her home.”
Seraphina watched the interview from the apartment.
“He knows exactly what he is doing,” Mara said.
“He is creating a record.”
“Yes. If he convinces a court that you are unstable, he may try to challenge your ability to accept the chairmanship.”
“Can he succeed?”
“Not easily. But he does not need to win permanently. He only needs to delay you beyond the deadline.”
Seraphina turned off the television.
“Then we cannot hide.”
Mara looked surprised.
“Grant expects me to act frightened and irrational. I need to do the opposite.”
“What are you proposing?”
“I will appear in court.”
The emergency hearing took place the next morning.
Grant arrived surrounded by lawyers and reporters.
Seraphina entered through the front doors holding Theo’s hand.
She wore a simple cream suit and carried no jewelry except her wedding ring.
Grant approached before the hearing.
“End this,” he said quietly. “Come home, and I will withdraw the petition.”
“You told the press I was unstable.”
“I said you were grieving.”
“You forged my signatures.”
His eyes remained calm.
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Who is Northstar?”
That changed him.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Grant leaned closer.
“You have been speaking to Marcus.”
“You didn’t answer me.”
“You are in far greater danger than you understand.”
“Is that a threat?”
“No. It is the first honest warning I have ever given you.”
The courtroom doors opened.
The judge reviewed testimony from Seraphina, Grant, Mara, and Theo’s school counselor. Grant’s attorneys presented private medical records showing that Seraphina had received treatment for anxiety after Edmund’s death.
Seraphina’s attorney demonstrated that none of the records suggested she was dangerous or incapable of caring for her child.
The judge refused to return Theo to Grant.
Temporary custody remained with Seraphina, provided Grant received supervised visits.
Outside the courtroom, reporters surrounded them.
Grant stood at the top of the courthouse steps.
“You have humiliated this family,” he whispered.
Seraphina looked directly at him.
“No, Grant. I have only stopped hiding what you did to it.”
She walked away with Theo.
For the first time, the public story began to shift.
Several journalists questioned why Grant had used his wife’s private medical records. Others investigated the forged loan guarantees.
That evening, Delaney appeared unexpectedly at the apartment.
She had no security team and no camera crew.
Mara refused to let her inside.
Delaney held up a red envelope.
“Tell Seraphina I know where the portrait was painted.”
Seraphina came to the door.
Delaney looked frightened.
“Grant thinks I’m still helping him,” she said. “If he learns I came here, he will destroy me.”
“You helped him destroy me.”
“Yes.”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t.”
Delaney pushed the envelope through the narrow opening.
Inside was an address in Vermont.
Beneath it, she had written a name.
Evelyn Bellamy.
Seraphina stared at the surname.
“Who is she?”
May you like
Delaney looked over her shoulder toward the street.
“The woman Grant was supposed to marry before Northstar chose you.”
