Chapter 2 - The Letter Eleanor Never Sent.
Malcolm recovered before anyone else did.
He stepped through the crowd in a black tuxedo, his silver hair perfect, his smile already returning.
"Victoria, this is obviously a cruel stunt."
Lily recoiled the instant she saw him.
Victoria noticed.
She folded the letter and held it against her gown.
"Do you know this child?"
"Of course not."
Malcolm gave a short laugh.
"Look at her."
Lily's eyes hardened.
Victoria stood.
"I am looking at her."
Daniel Vale, Victoria's fiancé, moved close and lowered his voice.
"We should get her somewhere private before the press hears about this."
Victoria barely heard him.
She looked down at the page in her hand.
Eleanor's handwriting slanted sharply across the old paper.
Victoria, if Lily has reached you, then I failed to keep her safe by myself.
Do not send her away.
Do not believe anything Malcolm tells you about me.
And whatever happens, do not let him take the pink blanket.
Victoria read that sentence twice.
Her heart began pounding.
Malcolm stepped closer.
"Give me the letter."
"No."
The answer came so quickly that several guests turned their heads.
Malcolm's pleasant expression tightened.
"This concerns the family."
"I am the family."
Lily suddenly grabbed Victoria's wrist.
Her fingers were cold.
"He has the silver wolves."
Victoria looked down.
"What?"
"The man who came to our apartment had silver wolves on his sleeves."
Malcolm's hands were at his sides.
His cuffs were hidden beneath his jacket.
He calmly adjusted one sleeve.
For half a second, silver flashed at his wrist.
A wolf's head.
Lily stepped behind Victoria.
The room seemed to narrow.
Malcolm smiled again.
"A popular design."
Victoria turned toward the head of security.
"Close the doors."
Malcolm's smile vanished.
"Excuse me?"
"No guest leaves until my security team checks every service entrance and every camera from the last hour."
Daniel touched her elbow.
"Victoria, think about how this looks."
She pulled away from him.
"I am thinking about a missing woman and a terrified child who just walked into my home carrying my sister's bag."
Lily's grip tightened around the blanket.
Victoria continued reading.
I told Lily you left us because I believed it for years.
I was wrong.
Someone made sure your letters never reached me.
Someone made sure mine never reached you.
I learned the truth too late.
The river house fire was not an accident.
The page ended there.
Victoria turned it over.
Nothing.
"Where is the rest?"
Lily looked confused.
"Mom said the letter had everything."
Victoria searched the handbag.
There was no second sheet.
Only the photograph, a bus ticket, an empty medicine wrapper, and a brass key tied to a red thread.
Lily saw the key and gasped.
"That wasn't in there before."
Victoria looked at the pink blanket.
One corner had been crudely resewn.
The letter had warned her not to let Malcolm take it.
She knelt and pressed the thick seam between her fingers.
Something hard was hidden inside.
Malcolm took one step forward.
"Victoria, don't."
She looked up at him.
His face was no longer calm.
Victoria tore the seam open.
A second key dropped onto the marble floor.
May you like
And beside it fell a tiny metal tag stamped with two words.
ORCHID ROOM.
