Chapter 5: The Missing Emeralds
Ethan reached the study in less than ten seconds.
The desk lamp was still on. The window remained locked. His laptop sat where he had left it, displaying the scanned letter from his mother.
But the velvet box was gone.
He searched the desk, checked beneath the papers, and opened the drawers one by one.
Nothing.
Then he noticed a faint smear of white powder on the polished wood near the desk's edge.
It looked like makeup.
Victoria had been sitting at her dressing table less than an hour earlier.
Ethan called security.
“Lock down the penthouse,” he said when the head of security answered.
“Nobody leaves until we know what happened.””
“Sir, is there an intruder?””
“Possibly.””
“I'm sending a team upstairs.””
“Quietly. I don't want my wife alerted until I speak to her.””
He ended the call and returned to the bedroom.
Victoria was standing beside the wardrobe, dressed in a cream-colored blouse and dark trousers. Her wedding gown lay across the bed, its lace sleeve trailing onto the floor.
She was holding a small black handbag.
When she saw him, she quickly closed it.
“Ethan. What's wrong?””
“My mother's necklace is missing.””
Victoria's expression barely changed.
“Missing?””
“Someone took it from the study.””
She glanced toward the hallway.
“Have you called security?””
“Yes.””
“Good. It must have been the staff. Someone could have entered while we were getting ready.””
“That's interesting.””
“What is?””
“You knew exactly where I left it.””
Victoria's fingers tightened around the handbag.
“You showed it to me earlier.””
“I showed it to you in this room. I put it in the study afterward.””
She looked away.
“Ethan, are you accusing me of stealing from you?””
“I'm asking you where the necklace is.””
“I don't have it.””
He studied her face.
“Open your bag.””
Her eyes widened.
“Excuse me?””
“Open it.””
“You cannot be serious.””
“Victoria, the necklace disappeared from a locked apartment. You're the only person who knew I had taken it out of the study tonight.””
“And now you're treating me like a thief?””
She dropped the handbag onto the bed.
“Fine. Search it. Search everything I own. Maybe that will finally convince you that I'm not the monster you've decided I am.””
Ethan opened the bag.
Inside were her phone, a compact mirror, a lipstick, a passport, a packet of tissues, and a small envelope containing cash.
No necklace.
Victoria folded her arms.
“Happy?””
“No.””
“Then what else do you want?””
“The truth.””
She laughed bitterly.
“You keep saying that as though you have some right to demand it after what your family did to mine.””
Ethan closed the bag.
“Your family's history doesn't give you permission to steal from me.””
“I didn't steal anything.””
“Then help me find it.””
“How?””
“Tell me who you've been speaking to. Tell me why your brother's company paid a contractor to enter your dressing room. Tell me why a stranger contacted me about your former fiancé.””
Victoria's face changed at the last question.
“You spoke to Daniel Price?””
“Not yet.””
“Don't.””
“Why?””
“Because he lies.””
“What did he lie about?””
She shook her head.
“You don't understand what kind of man he is.””
“Then explain it.””
“I can't.””
“Won't,” Ethan corrected.
Victoria's eyes filled again, but this time Ethan noticed the way she kept glancing at the hallway.
She was waiting for something.
Or someone.
A knock sounded at the bedroom door.
“Mr. Carter?”” called the head of security.
“We need to speak with you.””
Ethan opened the door.
The security chief, Marcus Reed, stood outside with a tablet in his hand.
“Sir, we reviewed the hallway cameras. No one entered the study after you left.””
“Then how did the necklace disappear?””
Marcus hesitated.
“There's a service corridor connecting the study to the private elevator. The camera covering that corridor went offline for six minutes at 11:32 p.m.””
“Why?””
“We're investigating.””
“Who has access to that system?””
“Three security officers, the building manager, and the household administrator.””
“Names.””
Marcus handed him a list.
Ethan scanned it.
Then he stopped.
“Who is Claire Donovan?””
“Our temporary household administrator. She started two weeks ago.””
“Who hired her?””
“Your wife requested her services.””
Ethan looked at Victoria.
She had gone pale.
Marcus noticed.
“Ma'am, do you know where Ms. Donovan is?””
Victoria shook her head.
“No.””
“That's strange,” Marcus said.
“Her access card was used to enter the service corridor shortly before the camera went offline.””
Ethan felt the pieces shifting again.
“Find her,” he ordered.
“And preserve every record associated with her hiring.””
Marcus nodded and left.
Victoria sat on the bed.
“I can explain.””
Ethan turned toward her.
“I'm listening.””
“Claire was recommended by someone I knew. I didn't know she would do anything like this.””
“Who recommended her?””
“My brother.””
“Of course.””
“Ethan, please. I didn't know.””
He believed that she might not be lying about Claire.
But that didn't explain the missing necklace, the false financial documents, or the letter from his mother.
“Call Nathan,” Ethan said.
Victoria stared at him.
“What?””
“Put him on speaker.””
“It's nearly midnight.””
“Then he can answer in the morning.””
She reached for her phone.
Before she could dial, it rang.
The name on the screen read *NATHAN*.
Victoria answered.
“Where are you?”” she demanded.
A man's voice replied, hurried and angry.
“I'm at the office. Why?””
“Claire Donovan. Did you hire her?””
There was a pause.
“Why are you asking me that?””
“Just answer.””
“I didn't hire her. You did.””
Victoria went rigid.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Nathan, this is Ethan Carter.””
The voice on the other end fell silent.
Then Nathan said, “I know who you are.””
“Good. Then you'll understand why I need an explanation.””
“Victoria, what have you done?””
She closed her eyes.
“Nathan, don't.””
But her brother continued.
“I told you not to marry him until we had the documents. I told you six months wasn't enough time to move everything without triggering an audit.””
Ethan's stomach tightened.
“Move what?””
Nathan stopped speaking.
Victoria snatched the phone away from her ear.
“Hang up,” she whispered.
Ethan took the phone from her.
“Nathan, if you hang up, I'll have my attorneys contact you in the morning. If you stay on the line, you may have an opportunity to explain why your company is involved in an attempt to access my assets.””
Nathan's breathing became audible.
“You don't understand,” he said finally.
“We weren't trying to steal your money.””
“Then what were you trying to do?””
“We were trying to recover money that was stolen from our family.””
“By whom?””
Nathan hesitated.
“Your father.””
The room seemed to shrink.
Ethan looked at Victoria.
She was crying silently now, her hands clasped in front of her.
“Nathan,” Ethan said, “I have a letter from my mother. It suggests that the original transfer involved more than one signature.””
Nathan swore under his breath.
“Then she told you.””
“Told me what?””
“That your father wasn't acting alone.””
“Who signed with him?””
Nathan's voice dropped.
“Michael Hayes.””
Ethan stared at Victoria.
“Your father?””
“Yes.””
“But Victoria just told me he was framed.””
“He was,” Nathan replied.
“And he wasn't.””
Neither Ethan nor Victoria moved.
Nathan continued.
“Michael discovered that Carter Industries had been using an offshore account to move money between subsidiaries. Your father signed the transfer documents. Michael signed them too. At first, he thought the transactions were legitimate.””
“Then why was he accused of stealing?””
“Because when the money disappeared, your father blamed him.””
Ethan felt a pulse beating in his temples.
“Did my father take the money?””
“I don't know. Neither did my father, until he found the second ledger.””
“What second ledger?””
“The one that recorded the final destination of the funds.””
“Where is it?””
Nathan gave a humorless laugh.
“If we knew that, we wouldn't be having this conversation.””
Ethan leaned against the desk.
“Then why marry me?””
Silence.
Nathan answered quietly.
“Because Victoria believed the ledger was hidden somewhere inside your family's estate.””
Ethan looked at his wife.
She had stopped crying.
Her face was expressionless.
“Is that true?”” he asked her.
Victoria didn't answer.
“Victoria.””
She looked up.
“Yes.””
The single word landed harder than any denial could have.
Ethan felt the last fragile thread connecting him to the woman he had loved begin to snap.
“You married me to find a ledger?””
“I married you because I believed the truth was buried with your family.””
“You told me you loved me.””
“I did.””
“While planning to take my money?””
“I thought I could recover what was stolen without hurting you.””
Ethan laughed once, without humor.
“You thought you could dismantle my family's finances, forge your way into my assets, and somehow leave me unharmed?””
“I wasn't going to take everything!””
“That's supposed to make me feel better?””
Victoria stood.
“My father died believing your family had destroyed him. My mother spent the rest of her life trying to clear his name. Nathan lost his business because he trusted the wrong people. I was trying to fix what happened to us.””
“By doing the same thing to me?””
She flinched.
Ethan turned back to the phone.
“Nathan, where is Claire Donovan?””
“I don't know.””
“Where is the ledger?””
“I don't know that either.””
“Then what do you know?””
Nathan hesitated.
“I know Victoria has been speaking to someone else. Someone who promised her that if she could obtain the right documents, he could make the entire Carter empire pay.””
Ethan looked at his wife.
“Who?””
Nathan's voice dropped to a whisper.
“Your uncle Richard.””
The call disconnected.
For a moment, the only sound in the room was the faint hum of the air conditioning.
Victoria sat down slowly.
Ethan looked at the empty velvet box on the desk.
His mother's emerald necklace was missing.
His uncle had returned from exile.
His wife had married him to find a hidden ledger.
And now he had reason to believe that the man who claimed to be protecting him might be the one directing the entire scheme.
He picked up his phone and called Daniel.
“Change the meeting with Daniel Price,” he said.
“I want him here tonight.””
“Ethan, it's nearly midnight.””
“I don't care.””
“What's happened?””
Ethan looked at Victoria.
“Everything I thought I knew about my family was wrong.””
He ended the call.
Victoria stood and approached him slowly.
“Ethan, listen to me. I know I made mistakes, but I never wanted you to suffer.””
He looked at her.
“Then why did you steal my mother's necklace?””
Her eyes widened.
“I didn't.””
“Who did?””
She opened her mouth.
Then she whispered, “Richard.””
Ethan's blood turned cold.
“Why would he take it?””
Victoria stared at the open velvet box.
“Because it isn't just a necklace.””
She reached into the pocket of her robe and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“I found this inside the box earlier. I was going to tell you, but then everything happened.””
Ethan snatched the paper from her hand.
It was a faded receipt from a private jeweler in Boston, dated twenty-six years earlier.
May you like
At the bottom, written in his mother's unmistakable handwriting, were seven words.
*The emeralds contain the key to everything.*
