Chapter 3 - THE VINTAGE NECKLACE
The sapphire caught the light of the chandelier, flashing a brilliant, haunting blue.
"The lady?" Marco repeated, his voice barely a breath. He reached out and gently took the necklace from his son’s small hands.
His thumb traced the diamonds. It was unmistakable. A custom De Santis heirloom. It was supposed to be resting at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea.
Victor’s face had lost its perfectly composed mask. He looked frantically toward the security guards at the door, calculating the distance.
"Marco, this is a trick," Victor said, his voice tightening. "The maid obviously bought a replica. She’s manipulating your son to extort you."
"A replica?" Marco asked softly, not looking away from the sapphire.
He turned the heavy pendant over.
Engraved on the back of the gold setting were three initials: S.D.S.
Sofia De Santis.
"This isn't a replica, Victor," Marco said, his voice dropping into a lethal, terrifying register. "This is the original. The one my wife wore the night she died."
He finally looked up, his dark eyes locking onto Victor.
"The security log," Marco said, piecing it together with horrifying speed. "The biometric key used to access my mother's medicine cabinet yesterday... It wasn't mine, was it?"
The head of security swallowed hard. "No, Boss. We just ran the decryption. It was Sofia's access code. We thought it was a system error. Her codes were supposed to be purged five years ago."
"Only one person had the administrative authority to purge those codes," Marco said, taking a slow step toward his advisor. "You, Victor."
Victor took another step back, bumping into the edge of the dining table. A crystal wine glass tipped over, shattering on the black marble floor.
"I kept her codes active for emergencies," Victor stammered.
"Emergencies?" Marco growled, closing the distance. "Or so you could move through my house like a ghost, blaming your actions on a dead woman?"
"She's lying!" Victor pointed at me, his finger shaking. "The maid is trying to frame me!"
I wrapped my arms protectively around Leo, pulling him behind my legs. "I didn't give him the necklace! He had it when he came in!"
"Leo," Marco said, his eyes never leaving Victor. "Who is the lady who gave you the necklace?"
Leo peered out from behind my apron.
"The lady in the walls," Leo said softly.
A collective chill swept through the room.
"She sings to me at night," Leo continued, his voice innocent and clear. "She gave me the shiny stone yesterday. She said the bad man, Victor, was putting poison in Grandma's water. She told me to tell Clara."
Victor didn't wait anymore.
He lunged for the doors.
"Take him!" Marco roared.
Three massive security guards slammed Victor into the mahogany double doors before he could even turn the handle. They wrestled him to the marble floor, pinning his arms behind his back.
Victor struggled wildly, his sophisticated veneer completely shattered.
"You think you're so smart, Marco!" Victor screamed, his face pressed against the cold floor. "You think you protect this family! Your mother deserves to suffer!"
Marco stood over him, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles were white.
"What did you give my mother?" Marco demanded.
"Not poison," I realized aloud, the pieces falling into place in my mind. I looked at the medical files I had briefly seen in the cabinet. "It was a chemical memory suppressant. Heavy sedatives mixed with beta-blockers."
Marco looked at me, shocked. "Why would he want to suppress her memory?"
Victor laughed. A wet, hysterical sound from the floor.
"Because she knows what happened the night Sofia drowned!" Victor spat, staring up at Marco with pure venom. "She knows the truth, Marco! And if you take her off those pills, she's going to tell you!"
Marco’s breathing hitched.
Before he could demand an answer, a soft, shuffling sound came from the hallway.
The heavy doors pushed open slightly, forcing the security guards to drag Victor out of the way.
Standing in the entrance, leaning heavily on a wooden cane, was Eleanor De Santis. Marco’s seventy-year-old mother.
She looked frail, her white hair loose around her shoulders, wearing a long silk robe. But her eyes, usually clouded by the heavy medication Victor had been secretly feeding her, looked surprisingly clear tonight.
Because yesterday, I had stopped him from replacing the pills. The suppressants were wearing off.
Eleanor’s eyes swept the chaotic dining room. They skipped over the pinned advisor. They skipped over her powerful son.
Her gaze landed entirely on me.
May you like
She took a trembling step forward, her eyes filling with tears. She reached out a shaking hand.
"Sofia?" Eleanor whispered, her voice breaking. "Sofia... you came back."
