Chapter 10 - THE NIGHT THE MANSION WENT SILENT
The recording began four minutes after I walked out of the Moretti mansion.
I recognized the ballroom immediately.
The chandeliers.
The champagne glasses.
The two hundred guests still standing in stunned silence.
Adrien remained near the staircase.
His expression was unreadable.
Then Victoria approached him.
She wore a red silk gown.
Her smile was small.
Triumphant.
"She's gone," Victoria whispered.
Adrien nodded.
"Yes."
Victoria touched his arm.
"Now we can move forward."
He looked at her.
"With what?"
She laughed softly.
"The restructuring."
Adrien frowned.
"Not tonight."
Victoria's smile faded.
"Adrien, we discussed this."
He turned away.
"I said not tonight."
For a moment, she looked furious.
Then the recording showed something strange.
Victoria approached the gift table.
She picked up the sapphire necklace I'd left beside Adrien's champagne glass.
She examined it.
Then slipped it into her handbag.
I stared.
"She stole my necklace."
Vivian nodded.
The recording continued.
Victoria moved toward the west corridor.
A few minutes later, Daniel Hail entered through a private service door.
He wasn't supposed to be at the party.
He approached Victoria.
They embraced.
Then kissed.
I felt sick.
The man wasn't simply her business partner.
He was her husband.
They spoke quietly.
The audio was faint.
But several words were clear.
"Elena left."
"Good."
"Adrien doesn't suspect."
Then Daniel said something that made my stomach tighten.
"What about the original trust documents?"
Victoria smiled.
"In the safe."
Daniel looked toward the staircase.
"And the access code?"
She held up a small card.
I froze.
Adrien's private study safe.
The one holding original corporate agreements.
Victoria had the code.
The recording ended.
I looked toward Marco.
"Did they access the safe?"
He nodded.
"Yes."
My stomach tightened.
"What did they take?"
"Several files."
Vivian leaned forward.
"Do you know which?"
Marco hesitated.
"The Carter trust agreements."
My blood ran cold.
Those were the originals I'd reviewed before leaving.
The same agreements protecting my family's investments.
Someone had planned to remove them after I was publicly humiliated.
I sat back.
For the first time, the timing made complete sense.
The party.
The divorce announcement.
The two hundred witnesses.
The public humiliation.
It was a distraction.
While everyone watched me walk out, Victoria and Daniel were stealing the documents needed to control the financial restructuring.
Then Marco revealed one final detail.
"They also removed an old photograph from Adrien's private safe."
I frowned.
"What photograph?"
Marco opened another file.
A scanned image appeared.
Thomas Carter stood beside Harrison Hail and a younger Adrien Moretti.
The date was eight years earlier.
One month before Thomas disappeared.
I stared.
May you like
Adrien had known my brother before the boating accident.
And he'd never told me.
