Chapter 3 - THE SILVER LOCKET IN THE LINING
The heavy oak doors of the dining room clicked shut.
The sound echoed like a gunshot through the silent room.
Celeste stared at the brass key resting on the mahogany table, her manicured hands trembling just slightly.
"Julian, you are overreacting," she said, forcing a tight, patronizing laugh. "It was an escort service. Professionals who transport children to elite academies."
Julian didn't blink. He picked up the key.
"Omar," Julian said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "Bring the suitcase here."
The house manager wheeled the small blue suitcase to the head of the table.
"Julian, please," Celeste hissed, her eyes darting toward the forty guests who were now captive witnesses. "Do not humiliate me in front of my friends."
"You fired the woman who raised me in front of them," Julian replied. "Now, we open the bag."
He inserted the brass key. The locks snapped open.
Julian unzipped the suitcase and folded the top back.
Inside were Theo's perfectly folded sweaters, his toothbrush, and his favorite books.
But as Julian ran his hand along the silk lining, his fingers caught on a small, hidden zipper.
He pulled it open.
And drew out a heavy silver locket.
The breath left my lungs.
I recognized that locket immediately. It had belonged to Rachel. It was the necklace she was wearing the day she died in the car accident. It had been missing ever since.
Theo gasped, reaching out. "Mommy's necklace."
Julian's face went completely bloodless.
He looked at Celeste.
"How did this get into my son's suitcase?"
Celeste swallowed hard. "I... I found it in his room. I packed it so he would have a piece of her at school."
"Liar," I said.
Everyone looked at me. I hadn't meant to speak, but the anger was burning through my veins.
"I clean Theo's room every day," I said, stepping forward. "That locket has not been in this house for eighteen months. The police said it was lost in the wreckage."
Julian gripped the silver chain until his knuckles turned white.
"Who gave you this, Celeste?"
She backed away, hitting the edge of a chair. "Julian, you're scaring me."
"You haven't seen me scary yet," he said softly.
He popped the locket open.
Inside was the photo of Rachel and Theo. But folded behind the tiny picture was a tightly rolled piece of paper.
Julian pulled it out and unrolled it.
His eyes scanned the words. The silence in the room stretched until it felt like it would snap.
When Julian finally looked up, the betrayal in his eyes was absolute.
"You didn't enroll him in a boarding school," Julian whispered.
"Julian—"
"You signed over his guardianship."
The guests gasped. I grabbed Theo's shoulders, pulling him closer to me.
"Guardianship?" I echoed. "To who?"
Julian turned the small piece of paper around so Celeste could see it.
"To Victor," Julian said.
Rachel's estranged brother. The man who had sworn to destroy Julian's company after Rachel's death, blaming Julian for letting her drive that night.
"He was going to take him out of the country," Julian said, his voice rising, vibrating with a rage I had never seen in him. "You traded my son to Victor. Why?"
Celeste's polished facade finally cracked.
"Because he has the shares, Julian!" she yelled. "He has the twenty percent of the company you need for the merger! He said he would vote against us tomorrow unless he got the boy!"
Julian stared at the woman he was supposed to marry.
"You sold my child for a corporate merger."
Before Celeste could answer, the security guard stationed by the locked doors tapped his earpiece.
His face went pale.
"Mr. Mercer," the guard interrupted, his voice shaking.
"Not now," Julian barked.
"Sir, you need to hear this," the guard insisted. "Victor isn't at the airport."
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Julian froze. "Where is he?"
The guard swallowed hard. "He just breached the front gate. And he has the police with him."
