Chapter 8
My hand flew to my throat.
“My locket?”
Celeste smiled.
“You never even opened it properly, did you?”
I backed away.
The locket had opened once when I was little.
After my mother died, the hinge jammed.
I never forced it.
I was afraid of breaking the only thing she left me.
Julian looked at me.
“May I?”
I shook my head.
Not because I didn’t trust him.
Because suddenly my mother’s locket felt like a bomb.
Celeste laughed softly.
“Poor Mara. Always holding evidence and never knowing it.”
Grant whispered, “How do you know what is inside?”
Celeste turned on him.
“Because Mother told me.”
Grant closed his eyes.
So there was another layer.
There was always another layer.
Julian stepped toward Celeste.
“Your mother has been dead for five years.”
Celeste smiled.
“No. She has been inconvenient for five years.”
A knock came at the security room door.
Detective Mara Chen entered with two officers.
She introduced herself calmly.
Then looked at Celeste.
“Celeste Ashford, we need you to come with us.”
Celeste held up both hands.
“Gladly. But before I go, ask the maid why her mother was paid by Vivienne Vale.”
Everyone turned to me.
My breath caught.
“My mother never knew Vivienne.”
Celeste tilted her head.
“Are you sure?”
Detective Chen looked at me.
“Miss Ellison, do you consent to opening the locket in the presence of witnesses?”
My heart pounded.
I looked at Ivy.
Her eyes were red.
I looked at Julian.
He did not pressure me.
He simply said, “Only if you choose.”
Choice.
After years of people deciding my life for me, that word felt strange.
I nodded.
Detective Chen placed a cloth on the console.
Julian used a tiny tool from Roman’s drawer.
The hinge resisted.
Then clicked.
Inside was a faded picture of my mother holding me as a baby.
Behind the picture was a folded strip of film.
May you like
And a note in my mother’s handwriting.
If Mara is ever blamed, find Julian Vale.
