Chapter 3 - THE HEIR NOBODY KNEW ABOUT
Amelia laughed.
It was the kind of laugh that came from disbelief.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does if you know what happened twenty-eight years ago.”
Theodore walked to the window.
“My wife and I couldn't have children for years.”
Amelia listened.
“Then one night, Margaret came to us.”
“Why?”
“She was pregnant.”
Amelia's eyes widened.
“She asked us to hide her child.”
“Why?”
“She was being threatened.”
“By whom?”
“The same people who had stolen her inheritance.”
Theodore paused.
“She gave birth in secret.”
Amelia whispered:
“What happened to the baby?”
“She told us the child died.”
“But you don't believe that.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because three days later, Margaret disappeared.”
Amelia stared at him.
“Then what happened?”
“My wife received a letter.”
“From Margaret?”
“Yes.”
“What did it say?”
Theodore opened a box.
Inside was a letter.
He handed it to Amelia.
The paper was yellow with age.
Protect my daughter.
Do not tell her who she is.
If the Hale Trust is ever threatened, reveal the truth.
Amelia read it twice.
Her hands began shaking.
“Where is the daughter?”
Theodore looked at her.
“She grew up believing she was someone else.”
Amelia slowly shook her head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You think that's me?”
“I don't think.”
He pointed to an old photograph.
A newborn baby.
Beside it was a hospital bracelet.
AMELIA MORGAN.
Her breath stopped.
“That's my name.”
“Your adoptive parents raised you.”
“My parents told me I was adopted.”
“But they never knew why.”
Amelia felt dizzy.
“My whole life…”
“Was built around a secret.”
She stared at the photograph.
“Then Celeste knows?”
“She suspects.”
“Graham?”
“Maybe.”
Amelia's mind raced.
The affair.
The ring.
The divorce.
The trust.
None of it had been random.
Celeste wasn't simply trying to steal her husband.
She was trying to gain access to the family fortune by convincing everyone she belonged to the missing branch.
But if Amelia was the real heir...
Celeste had been lying.
And Graham had either been fooled...
or was part of it.
Theodore suddenly looked worried.
“There's something else.”
“What?”
“The ring contains a hidden compartment.”
Amelia stared.
“A ring?”
“Yes.”
“What's inside?”
“We don't know.”
“Then why did you say it carried proof?”
“Because my wife discovered something twenty-seven years ago.”
He opened another document.
A jeweler's diagram.
The sapphire had a microscopic cavity beneath the stone.
The original owner had used it to hide something.
“What?”
“A photograph.”
“Of whom?”
Theodore's voice dropped.
“Margaret.”
“Why would that matter?”
“Because Margaret was photographed the night she disappeared.”
“And?”
“She wasn't alone.”
Amelia leaned closer.
“Who was with her?”
Theodore looked at the photograph.
“My son.”
Graham's father.
Amelia froze.
“My father-in-law?”
“Yes.”
“And they disappeared together?”
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
Theodore's expression became painful.
“My son came home.”
“Without Margaret.”
“Yes.”
“And he told everyone she had died.”
Amelia understood.
“Then he knew.”
“He knew everything.”
“And the ring proves it.”
Theodore nodded.
“That sapphire may contain the original photograph.”
Amelia looked toward the dining room.
Celeste was still wearing it.
The woman had no idea that the jewelry on her finger might contain evidence capable of destroying her entire story.
Amelia stood.
“We need the ring.”
Theodore shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because if Celeste realizes what it contains…”
He looked toward the hallway.
“She will run.”
Then the front door slammed.
A servant rushed into the library.
“Mr. Hale!”
May you like
“What?”
“Miss Morgan is gone.”
