Chapter 8
The heavy silk blinded Delaney for a crucial half-second.
She flinched, raising her arms to swat the fabric away.
That was all Nathan needed.
He closed the distance instantly, grabbing Delaney’s wrist and twisting it sharply. The silver scissors clattered to the marble floor. Nathan shoved Delaney hard against the wall, pinning her there until the police burst through the doors.
I caught Sophie as she stumbled forward, wrapping my arms tightly around her trembling body.
“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” I cried, burying my face in her hair. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
Officers flooded the ballroom. They slapped handcuffs on Delaney, who was sobbing hysterically, screaming about how Arthur had forced her to do it.
Marcus didn’t fight. He just smiled his awful, broken smile as they hauled him up from the floor and read him his rights.
Arthur Sterling stood by the window, adjusting his cuffs. He offered his wrists to the officers with aristocratic disdain, acting as if he were being arrested for a minor tax infraction rather than the murder of his niece-in-law.
As they led Arthur past Nathan, the older man paused.
“You’ll never hold the company together without me, Nathan,” Arthur said coldly.
Nathan didn’t blink. “Watch me.”
The ballroom slowly cleared. The guests had been ushered out by the police for questioning.
It was just me, Nathan, and Sophie left amidst the wreckage of the engagement party.
Nathan walked over to the engagement table. He picked up the ruined ivory wedding dress. He didn’t look at the torn lace on the sleeves; he looked at the blue stitching I had hidden in the hem.
He carried the dress over to us and knelt in front of Sophie.
“Mommy was so brave,” Sophie whispered, wiping her eyes. “She knew they were bad.”
“She was the bravest person I ever knew,” Nathan said, his voice thick with emotion. He gently placed the silk train over Sophie’s lap, wrapping her in her mother’s memory.
He looked up at me.
“Eleanor,” Nathan said softly. “You saved my daughter’s life. You saved my wife’s truth. How can I ever repay you?”
I shook my head, tears streaming down my face. “You don’t owe me anything, Nathan. Rebecca was like a daughter to me. I just wanted to protect her.”
Nathan stood up. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the flash drive.
“Rebecca left something else on here,” Nathan said. “An audio file. She asked me to play it for you when this was all over.”
He walked back to the laptop and clicked the final file.
Rebecca’s gentle voice filled the quiet room.
“Aunt Eleanor. If you are hearing this, it means you found the drive. I never told Nathan about my biological father because I was so ashamed of where I came from. But I was never ashamed of you. You took me in when my mother died. You taught me how to be kind, how to be strong. You are the only mother I ever knew.”
I covered my mouth, a sob escaping my lips.
“I asked the lawyers to draft a new trust before I got too sick,” Rebecca’s voice continued. “Fifty percent of the Sterling shares go to Sophie. And I left the deed to the estate, and guardianship of Sophie, to Nathan. But I left my personal fortune—the money Nathan’s father gave me—to you, Eleanor. Three million dollars. So you never have to sew another dress unless you want to.”
I fell to my knees, overwhelmed by the love of the girl I had raised in a tiny apartment, who had grown up to become a queen in a mansion, and who had never forgotten me.
Nathan knelt beside me and put his arm around my shoulder.
“You’re family, Eleanor,” Nathan said firmly. “And you are never leaving this house.”
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