CHAPTER 2: THE SECRET BEHIND THE SMILE
The tension cracked like glass.
Nathaniel turned slowly, scanning the room.
“Where did you get this?” he asked the girl, his tone softer now.
She hesitated, clutching the torn remains of her golden purse.
“It was… inside,” she whispered. “I’ve always had it.”
“Liar,” Victoria snapped, stepping forward. “She’s making stories—”
“Stop.”
Nathaniel didn’t raise his voice.
He didn’t need to.
Something in his expression had changed—and everyone felt it.
He crouched in front of the girl.
“Who gave it to you?”
The girl swallowed hard.
“My mom,” she said.
A pause.
“She said… it was the only thing she had left.”
Nathaniel’s breath caught.
“What was her name?”
“…Elena.”
The name hit him like a storm.
Across the room, a glass slipped from someone’s hand and shattered.
Nathaniel stood slowly, turning toward Victoria.
But this time, there was no warmth left in his eyes.
“Say it,” he said quietly.
Victoria forced a laugh. “I don’t know what game this is, but—”
“You told me Elena ran away,” Nathaniel interrupted.
His voice trembled—not with weakness, but with something buried for years.
“You told me she stole from my family and disappeared.”
Victoria’s smile faltered.
Nathaniel stepped closer.
“But the pearl set never left our private vault,” he continued. “Only three people had access.”
Silence.
“My father.”
“Myself.”
And then—
His gaze locked onto her.
“…You.”
The entire ballroom turned toward Victoria.
Her composure shattered.
“That proves nothing,” she snapped, but her voice was no longer steady.
Nathaniel didn’t respond.
Instead, he took out his phone.
“One call,” he said. “And the truth comes out.”
May you like
For the first time—
Victoria looked afraid.
