Chapter 2 – A LIE HIDDEN IN A PHOTOGRAPH

“What do you mean he’s in the house?” I demanded, backing away from the rosary.

Nico didn’t answer. He scrambled to his feet, clutching the silver beads so tightly his knuckles turned white.

“We have to get back to the dining room,” Nico said. “Now!”

We sprinted down the hallway. My pulse pounded in my ears.

If the man Olivia feared was already inside the mansion, why had he left the rosary? It wasn’t an accident. It was a message.

I know you’re looking. And I’m already ten steps ahead.

We burst through the service doors into the dining room.

The guests were murmuring nervously. Matteo was holding Isla tightly against his chest, shielding her from the tension in the room. Meredith was arguing frantically with her father in the corner.

Matteo looked up as we entered.

He saw my empty hands.

“Where is it?” he demanded.

Nico walked forward and dropped the silver rosary onto the white linen tablecloth.

It landed with a heavy, metallic thud.

Matteo froze.

He stared at the cross. Then slowly, he looked up at his brother.

“Where did you find this?” Matteo’s voice was lethal.

“Under the floorboard,” Nico said. “The music box is gone. He took it.”

Matteo grabbed the rosary. “He was in my daughter’s room.”

“Matteo,” I said, my voice trembling. “Who does that belong to?”

Before Matteo could answer, a loud, agonizing shriek tore through the dining room.

Everyone spun around.

Meredith was standing near the head of the table. Her designer purse had spilled onto the floor, scattering lipsticks, keys, and a compact mirror across the marble.

But Meredith wasn’t looking at her makeup.

She was staring at a torn photograph that had fallen from a hidden zipper compartment in her bag.

Her hands were over her mouth, her eyes wide with betrayal.

She whipped around and stared at Daniel Mercer.

“You lied to me!” Meredith screamed at the attorney.

Daniel’s expression remained perfectly calm. “Meredith, keep your voice down.”

“You told me you were helping my father save his company!” She pointed a shaking finger at Daniel. “You told me transferring the trust was just business! You never said you were the one who forced her off the road!”

The entire room went dead silent.

Matteo slowly handed Isla to me.

He turned toward Meredith. “Forced who off the road?”

Meredith was hyperventilating. She pointed at the photograph on the floor.

“I found it in his briefcase last week! I confronted him about it, and he swore it was just leverage!”

Matteo walked over and picked up the photograph.

He stared at it.

His face went completely blank.

I stepped closer, clutching Isla’s hand.

I looked at the photograph over Matteo’s shoulder.

It was a picture of Olivia’s car. The wreckage from four years ago. The accident the police had ruled a tragic loss of control on an icy road.

But in the photograph, there was another car parked beside the wreckage.

And standing next to it, holding a heavy silver rosary, was Daniel Mercer.

Matteo looked up. His eyes were black with rage.

He turned toward the spot where Daniel had been standing.

But the space was empty.

While Meredith was screaming, Daniel Mercer had quietly backed into the shadows near the terrace doors.

“Stop him!” Matteo roared to his guards.

Two men lunged for the doors.

Suddenly, the crystal chandeliers above us went completely black.

The heavy steel security shutters slammed down over the windows and doors, locking eighty people inside the dining room.

And from the security intercom on the wall, Daniel’s voice echoed through the darkness.

“I really didn’t want to do this tonight, Matteo. But I suppose it’s time to clean house.”

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