Chapter 1 - The Woman Vanessa Needed to Break
The frozen CCTV image remained on the screen.
Vanessa stood beside Emily’s brown handbag with the diamond necklace in her hand.
No one moved.
The same guests who had stared at Emily with suspicion now avoided her eyes.
Daniel looked at Vanessa as if he were seeing a stranger.
“You framed her.”
Vanessa’s lips parted.
“It isn’t what it looks like.”
Daniel pointed toward the screen.
“We just watched you remove the necklace from your own purse.”
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“She was going to steal it eventually.”
Emily lowered the hand covering her cheek.
“What?”
Vanessa turned toward her.
“You heard me.”
Margaret stepped forward.
“Vanessa, stop.”
But Vanessa had already lost control.
“She walks through this house every day pretending she belongs here.”
Emily stared at her.
“I work here.”
“No.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“You watch.”
The room went quiet again.
Emily did not understand.
“What are you talking about?”
Vanessa looked toward Daniel.
For one second, fear appeared in her eyes.
Then she covered it with anger.
“She asks questions.”
Emily frowned.
“About what?”
“About rooms that are none of her business.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Which rooms?”
Vanessa ignored him.
She pointed at Emily.
“She went into the west library.”
Emily felt a chill.
That was true.
Three weeks earlier, Margaret had sent her to dust the unused west wing.
The library had been locked.
But the door had been partly open.
Inside, Emily had found something strange.
A photograph.
Old.
Faded.
It showed a young Margaret standing beside a woman Emily had never seen.
Between them stood a little girl.
The child wore a white dress and a small gold locket.
Emily had stared at the child because she looked exactly like Emily had looked at six years old.
Same eyes.
Same chin.
Same small birthmark near the left eyebrow.
Emily had thought it was coincidence.
Until Margaret entered the room.
Margaret had snatched the photograph from her hand.
“You were never supposed to see this.”
Emily had asked what she meant.
Margaret refused to answer.
Now Vanessa knew about it.
Daniel looked between them.
“What photograph?”
Vanessa went pale.
Margaret whispered, “Daniel.”
He turned.
“What photograph?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
Vanessa suddenly smiled.
There was no kindness in it.
“You really don’t know?”
Daniel stared.
“Know what?”
Vanessa looked at Emily.
Then at the frozen footage.
Then back at Daniel.
“The necklace was never the real problem.”
Emily’s heartbeat quickened.
Vanessa stepped closer.
“She was.”
Margaret moved between them.
“That’s enough.”
Vanessa laughed.
“No.”
She pointed at Emily again.
“You want to know why I needed her fired tonight?”
Emily swallowed.
May you like
Vanessa’s eyes burned with hatred.
“Because if she stayed in this house one more week, Daniel would have found out who she really is.”
