Chapter 2 - The Crest Nathan Remembered
Nathan didn’t touch the locket.
He stared at the tiny engraving on its front.
Three curved lines surrounding an M.
The Mercer family crest.
His grandmother Evelyn had worn the same symbol on a bracelet for most of Nathan’s childhood.
But Evelyn Mercer had died eight months earlier.
“Where did Lily get that?”
Grace looked at Victoria.
That was answer enough.
Nathan stood.
“Victoria. Leave.”
Victoria’s shock hardened into anger.
“You’re throwing me out because your maid made up some disgusting story?”
Grace flinched.
Nathan didn’t.
“I watched you hit her.”
“She stole from us!”
“What?”
Victoria pointed at the locket.
“That belongs to your family.”
Grace shook her head.
“No. It was given to Lily.”
“By whom?” Nathan demanded.
Grace hesitated.
Victoria suddenly smiled.
It was too quick.
Too confident.
Nathan recognized it immediately. It was the smile Victoria used in negotiations when she believed someone else had already lost.
“Ask your employee why she conveniently waited until three weeks before our wedding to announce that her child is yours.”
Nathan looked at Grace.
Grace’s eyes filled with humiliation.
“She’s right about one thing,” Grace whispered. “I should have told you sooner.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“Then tell me now.”
“Not here.”
Victoria laughed.
“Of course.”
Grace carefully rose, wincing from her injured shoulder.
Nathan reached for Lily, but the toddler recoiled instinctively.
That hurt him more than he expected.
Grace noticed.
“She doesn’t know you,” she said softly. “Not really.”
“Then why did she call me Daddy?”
Grace looked confused.
“I never taught her that.”
Victoria’s breathing changed.
Nathan heard it.
He turned.
“What did you tell this child?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you scared?”
“I’m not.”
Nathan took out his phone.
Victoria’s confidence cracked.
“Who are you calling?”
“Security. And an ambulance for Grace.”
Victoria’s eyes flashed toward the small camera mounted above the rear hallway.
Nathan followed her gaze.
The camera’s indicator was dark.
He frowned.
“That camera was working this morning.”
Victoria said nothing.
Nathan opened the home-security application.
BACK HALL CAMERA — OFFLINE.
KITCHEN CAMERA — OFFLINE.
Both had stopped recording forty-seven minutes earlier.
Nathan looked up slowly.
“You disabled my cameras?”
“No.”
Grace whispered, “She did more than that.”
Nathan turned.
Grace reached into her uniform pocket and pulled out a small black memory card.
“I knew she was deleting things.”
May you like
Victoria’s expression collapsed.
“So I started making copies.”
