Chapter 9 - The Price of Betrayal
Nobody moved.
Richard Rourke looked around the conference room as though he had never been away.
He wore a charcoal suit and carried a silver walking stick.
Celeste stepped toward him.
"Richard."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"You knew."
Richard smiled.
"Of course she knew."
He looked at the board members.
"I apologize for the confusion. There have been complications, but I am pleased to confirm that the ownership restructuring is legitimate."
Dominic placed both hands on the table.
"You're supposed to be dead."
Richard chuckled.
"That was the point."
"You let me bury a stranger."
"I gave you the opportunity to become a man."
Dominic's face hardened.
"By lying to me?"
"By making you strong."
Eliza stepped forward.
"Strength isn't the same as cruelty."
Richard turned toward her.
"Ah. The wife."
His eyes dropped to her stomach.
"Congratulations."
Eliza felt Dominic move closer.
Richard smiled.
"That child will be very important."
"Not to you," Dominic replied.
Richard ignored him.
He turned to the board.
"Three months ago, Dominic authorized a transfer of voting rights to Celeste Wynn. The documents are legal. The trust has been restructured."
Dominic lifted the paperwork.
"The trust cannot be restructured without Evelyn's original documents."
Richard smiled.
"Which is why we have them."
Eliza's heart pounded.
"Where?"
Richard looked at her.
"With the person who has been carrying them."
The room went quiet.
Dominic turned toward his wife.
Eliza shook her head.
"I don't have anything."
Richard laughed.
"Your grandmother-in-law was clever. She knew no one would search the obvious place."
He reached into his coat and removed a small photograph.
It showed the old wedding portrait of Dominic and Eliza.
The emerald necklace was visible around Eliza's neck.
Eliza remembered the wedding.
Evelyn had placed the necklace around her throat herself.
She had whispered something that Eliza had never forgotten.
Wear this when you need to remember who you are.
Eliza touched her collarbone.
She had kept the necklace in a jewelry box for years.
Until the night Celeste appeared wearing it.
"Where is the original necklace?" Dominic asked.
Eliza looked at him.
"At the estate."
Richard smiled.
"Then perhaps we should retrieve it."
Dominic understood.
The necklace wasn't simply jewelry.
It contained something.
A hidden compartment.
An embedded storage device.
Or a key.
He looked at Griffin.
"Secure the estate."
But Richard was already moving.
Two men entered through the conference room doors.
They wore security uniforms.
Griffin immediately reached for his weapon.
Richard lifted his hand.
"Don't make this difficult."
The board members backed away.
Celeste approached Eliza.
"You should have accepted the arrangement when you had the chance."
Eliza looked at her.
"What arrangement?"
"Walk away quietly. Take your divorce settlement. Forget the baby."
Eliza's blood ran cold.
Celeste lowered her voice.
"You could have had a comfortable life."
"I wanted a marriage."
"Marriage is a business arrangement."
"Not to me."
Celeste smiled.
"That was your mistake."
Dominic stepped between them.
"Enough."
Richard laughed.
"Still protecting her?"
Dominic looked directly at his father.
"She's my wife."
"Not for much longer."
Richard signaled to the men.
But before they could move, the conference room lights went out.
A crash sounded from the far end of the room.
Then a voice shouted:
"Everybody down!"
Emergency lights flickered on.
Griffin had pulled the fire alarm.
The room erupted.
Board members ran toward the exit.
Dominic grabbed Eliza's hand.
"Stay with me."
They made it into the hallway.
Paige was waiting beside the elevator.
"Come on!"
They hurried toward the parking garage.
Behind them, gunshots echoed through the building.
Dominic pushed Eliza into the SUV.
Griffin climbed into the driver's seat.
"Where's your security team?" Dominic demanded.
"Somebody shut down the main system."
"Who?"
Griffin looked at him through the rearview mirror.
"I don't know."
They sped through the underground exit.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Eliza noticed something.
The emerald necklace was missing from her handbag.
She turned toward Dominic.
"Where's the necklace?"
His expression changed.
"What?"
"The original necklace. I brought it from the estate this morning."
Paige looked down.
"Eliza, you left it in the conference room."
Eliza shook her head.
"No."
She opened her handbag again.
The small jewelry box was still there.
But the necklace was gone.
A folded piece of paper had been placed inside.
Eliza opened it.
The message was written in blue ink.
You have something I need. Bring it to the old Rourke warehouse. Come alone.
Below it was a second sentence.
If you tell Dominic, your sister will pay for it.
Eliza looked up.
Paige had already read it.
Dominic's face became terrifyingly calm.
"Nobody is going anywhere alone."
But Eliza noticed something else.
The handwriting.
She had seen it before.
On the little baby card in her purse.
It belonged to someone she trusted.
Someone who had been helping her from the beginning.
May you like
Daniel Cross.
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