Chapter 4 - The Man Victoria Planned to Marry.
Lily screamed once.
Victoria immediately reached for her in the dark.
"I'm here."
The emergency lights should have activated.
They did not.
One of the guards tried the door.
"It's locked from the outside."
Daniel cursed under his breath.
Victoria heard it.
"Your phone."
"No signal."
"Give it to me."
He hesitated.
That hesitation told her more than any answer could.
Victoria stepped toward the faint outline of his body.
"Daniel."
"This is ridiculous."
"Give me your phone."
A loud metallic bang came from inside the wall.
Then smoke began pushing beneath the door.
Mrs. Whitmore coughed.
One guard pulled a decorative chair back and drove it into the old window.
The glass cracked but held.
Victoria wrapped Lily in the pink blanket and pushed her toward the far corner.
"Stay low."
Lily clutched the black handbag to her chest.
"They did this before."
Victoria froze.
"What did you say?"
"Mom said when people can't steal a secret, they burn the room around it."
The guard struck the window again.
Glass exploded outward.
Cold air rushed in.
The smoke alarm finally began screaming.
A security team reached the corridor two minutes later and forced the door open.
The smoke had come from a burning wastebasket outside the Orchid Room.
Someone had also disabled the lock electronically.
Victoria took Lily downstairs through the private staircase.
Malcolm was still in the ballroom, surrounded by guests.
He raised both hands when she approached.
"I haven't moved."
"Someone tried to lock us in a burning corridor."
A murmur moved through the crowd.
Malcolm looked offended.
"Then perhaps your security is not as competent as you believe."
Victoria turned to Daniel.
"Show me your cufflinks."
He stared at her.
"What?"
"Your cufflinks."
Slowly, Daniel pulled back his sleeves.
Silver wolves gleamed beneath the chandeliers.
Lily stopped breathing for a second.
Then she whispered,
"Those."
Daniel's face went white.
"Victoria, these were a gift from Malcolm."
"When?"
"Years ago."
"Were you at Eleanor's apartment?"
"No."
Lily stepped forward.
"I heard your voice."
Daniel stared at her.
"You've never met me."
"You said my mother had one last chance."
The ballroom erupted in whispers.
Victoria felt as if someone had cut a rope holding her entire life together.
Daniel reached for her.
She moved away.
"Don't touch me."
His expression hardened.
For the first time that evening, the charming man vanished completely.
"You are going to destroy your company over the word of a frightened child."
Victoria looked at the black handbag.
Then at the ledger in Mrs. Whitmore's hands.
"No."
She removed her engagement ring.
"I'm going to find out why the man I planned to marry has been receiving money from a trust belonging to my missing sister."
She placed the ring on a silver tray beside an untouched glass of champagne.
Daniel's eyes flicked toward Malcolm.
It lasted less than a second.
Victoria saw it anyway.
Then Lily suddenly swayed.
The handbag slipped from her fingers.
Victoria caught the child before she hit the floor.
As Lily collapsed against her, a small hospital bracelet slid from beneath the cuff of her torn dress.
Printed on it was a name Victoria had never seen.
LILY HART.
Underneath was the name of a private facility outside the city.
May you like
ST. AGNES RECOVERY CENTER.
And the discharge date was that morning.
