Chapter 4: The Voice Behind the Locked Drawer
Nicholas followed the sound to the cabinet.
“Open it, Vivienne.”
“I do not have the key.”
Eleanor pointed to the bracelet on Vivienne’s wrist.
“Your mother wore that charm when she helped Malcolm empty Lorenzo’s safe.”
Vivienne covered the bracelet.
“You disappeared for six years.
You do not get to accuse my family.”
Nicholas held out his hand.
“The charm.”
“No.”
Maria stepped closer.
“Four marks are still visible on my daughter’s wrist.
You will give him the key.”
Vivienne unfastened the bracelet and dropped it into Nicholas’s palm.
“You brought a child into a private family dispute,” she said.
“Do not pretend you are innocent.”
“I came here to clean rooms and serve dinner,” Maria replied.
“You turned my suitcase into an eviction notice.”
Nicholas opened the cabinet.
A phone lay on top of a stack of ledgers.
Its screen showed twelve missed calls from MALCOLM VALE.
It rang again.
Nicholas answered on speaker.
“Vivienne, have you found the trust deed?” Malcolm demanded.
“No,” Nicholas said.
“But I found the ledgers.”
Silence followed.
Then Malcolm’s voice hardened.
“Those records belong to Vale Holdings.
Put my daughter on.”
“She is busy explaining why Maria’s belongings were packed.”
Vivienne reached for the phone.
“Father, stop talking.”
Malcolm ignored her.
“Nicholas, marry Vivienne tomorrow.
I will forgive half the debt.”
“What happens to Maria?”
“She signs away any claim and leaves with the child.”
“And if she refuses?”
“Then child welfare receives the photographs.”
Maria went still.
“What photographs?”
Vivienne closed her eyes.
A message appeared on Nicholas’s screen.
It showed Lucy alone beside the mansion’s swimming pool, photographed from behind.
“That was taken yesterday,” Maria said.
“I was ten feet away.”
“The angle hides that,” Eleanor replied.
Malcolm spoke again.
“A struggling mother, an unsupervised child, an unstable home.
People believe pictures.”
“You planned to take Lucy from me?” Maria asked.
“I planned to give her stability.”
Nicholas ended the call.
Vivienne grabbed his arm.
“He is bluffing.”
“The suitcase, the false photographs, the missing deed—how many bluffs did you need?”
“I was saving your company!”
“You were buying it with Maria’s life.”
The front bell rang.
A moment later, two officials entered with a uniformed officer and Dr.
Simon Hale, the Moretti family physician.
Dr.
Hale held up a document.
“Nicholas, this is an emergency welfare order concerning Lucy.”
Maria stepped in front of her daughter.
“On whose evidence?”
“Anonymous evidence.”
“Your signature is on the medical statement.”
Dr.
Hale avoided her eyes.
“Lucy has injuries consistent with unsafe handling.”
Lucy hid behind Maria.
Eleanor crouched beside her.
“Sweetheart, did your mother make those marks?”
“No.”
“Did Nicholas?”
“No.”
Dr.
Hale closed his folder.
“A child can be coached.”
Vivienne knelt.
“Lucy, tell them who held your wrist.”
Lucy pointed at Vivienne again.
“The lady in red.”
Vivienne stood quickly.
“You see?
She means me, but I did not touch her.
The child is confused.”
Eleanor looked at the red dress.
“No,” she said.
“She is remembering correctly.”
The officer frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Vivienne did not wear that dress yesterday.”
Nicholas turned toward her.
“Who did?”
Vivienne said nothing.
One official took Maria aside.
“Until this is clarified, Lucy may need to leave the property tonight.”
Maria’s knees weakened.
“You cannot take her because of a photograph someone staged.”
“I am asking you to cooperate.”
Lucy began to cry.
“Mommy, don’t let them.”
Maria sank to the floor and held her.
“I won’t.”
Vivienne watched them, her face pale but unmoving.
Then the housekeeper, Agnes, entered carrying a tablet.
“I disliked Maria from the day she arrived,” she said.
“I thought she was hunting for money.”
Maria looked up.
Agnes placed the tablet in the officer’s hands.
“That is why I watched her carefully.
Every corridor camera, every garden camera, every hour.”
The video showed Maria beside the pool, close enough to touch Lucy.
Another clip showed a woman in a red dress gripping Lucy’s wrist near the east staircase.
The woman turned toward the camera.
It was not Vivienne.
It was her mother, Claudia Vale.
May you like
Vivienne whispered, “You were never supposed to see that.”
Before Nicholas could answer, every light in the east wing went out.
