Chapter 4 - the pocket that should have been empty
Mara immediately checked Lily’s pale jacket.
Both pockets were empty.
“She doesn’t have anything,” Mara said.
Daniel examined the lining and seams.
Adrian watched from several feet away.
“Of course she doesn’t,” he said. “No one accused her.”
“Your message went to every guest,” Daniel replied.
“That was hotel security, not me.”
Felix Grant appeared at the end of the corridor with two uniformed guards.
Unlike Adrian, he looked genuinely concerned.
“We have a serious privacy issue,” Felix explained. “Mr. Preston’s phone contains confidential financial information. We’ve been asked to search the immediate wedding areas.”
“Asked by whom?” Daniel said.
Eleanor answered before Felix could.
“By me. We cannot allow sensitive trust documents to leave the hotel.”
Mara stared at her mother.
“How did you know there were trust documents on Adrian’s phone?”
Eleanor’s expression remained composed.
“Because he told me.”
Adrian nodded.
“The continuity agreement was sent to my legal adviser this morning.”
Daniel held up the cracked device.
“And what is this?”
Felix examined it without touching.
“I’ve never seen that phone.”
“It was left near the service elevator,” Daniel said. “It contained a recording of Adrian discussing how to frame Lily.”
Claire looked at Adrian.
“A recording?”
“It was fake,” Adrian said immediately. “Daniel has spent months trying to destroy this wedding.”
“I heard your voice,” Lily said.
Everyone turned toward her.
Adrian lowered himself slightly, pretending to speak gently.
“Lily, adults can make recordings sound like anyone.”
“You said nobody would believe me.”
The warmth left his face.
Eleanor moved between them.
“That is enough. Lily is tired, and Daniel is upsetting everyone.”
Mara took her daughter’s hand.
“We’re leaving.”
“You can leave after security confirms that none of you have Adrian’s property,” Eleanor said.
Mara could hardly believe the words.
“You’re allowing guards to search your granddaughter?”
“I’m protecting this family.”
“No. You’re protecting him.”
A violin began playing downstairs, signaling that guests should enter the ballroom. The ceremony would begin in twenty minutes.
Claire’s eyes filled with tears.
“Please don’t do this now.”
Mara looked at her sister.
“Then delay the ceremony.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
Adrian placed a comforting hand against Claire’s back.
“She has made her choice.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Not after hearing the recording.”
He looked down at the cracked phone.
The countdown had disappeared.
The screen was completely blank.
Felix reached for it.
“I’ll take this to security.”
The instant the phone entered Felix’s hand, the fire alarm sounded once and stopped.
The corridor lights flickered.
A hotel employee hurried from the bridal suite carrying Lily’s small bag.
“Mrs. Hart,” she told Eleanor, “I found this beneath the dressing table.”
She opened the bag.
Inside was Adrian’s black leather phone case.
Mara knew Lily had never owned it.
Adrian’s eyes widened in a carefully performed display of shock.
Felix reached into the bag and removed the case.
It was empty.
“Search her jacket again,” Adrian said.
Mara pulled Lily behind her.
“No one touches her.”
Eleanor approached with a strange sadness in her eyes.
“Mara, don’t make this worse.”
“Worse for whom?”
Eleanor reached toward Lily’s jacket.
The child flinched.
Daniel caught his mother’s wrist before she could touch the pocket.
Something hard shifted beneath the fabric.
Mara slowly placed her hand inside.
Her fingers closed around a phone.
It was not the cracked device Daniel had found.
This one was new, unmarked and cold.
Adrian stepped forward.
“That’s mine.”
“No,” Lily whispered. “It wasn’t there.”
Guests were beginning to gather in the corridor.
Several raised their phones to record.
Adrian snatched the device from Mara’s hand.
“What did you open?” he demanded.
“I didn’t take it,” Lily cried.
“You could have destroyed everything.”
He moved so quickly that Mara saw only his arm.
There was a sharp sound.
Lily stumbled sideways and pressed her hand against the side of her head.
The corridor became silent.
Mara caught her daughter before she fell.
Daniel seized Adrian by the front of his shirt and drove him backward against the wall.
“You hit an eight-year-old over your own lie?”
Adrian’s perfect wedding smile was gone.
May you like
Through the crowd, Felix Grant looked toward the security camera above the service elevator.
The small red light had stopped blinking.
