Chapter 1 - THE CALL SHE WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO MAKE “DON’T HANG UP. IF HE KNOWS YOU CALLED ME, GET OUT OF THAT HOUSE NOW.”
“DON’T HANG UP. IF HE KNOWS YOU CALLED ME, GET OUT OF THAT HOUSE NOW.”
Emily Carter froze with the phone pressed against her ear. Behind the closed pantry door, angry voices still echoed through the mansion’s dining room. Her cheek burned, but the thin streak of blood behind her ear frightened her less than the voice on the phone. Whoever had answered already knew exactly where she was.
“My name is Emily,” she whispered. “I found this number written inside my mother’s old necklace. Who are you?” Silence followed. Then the stranger said something that made her knees weaken. “Your mother worked in that mansion eighteen years ago. And the man who just humiliated you knows exactly who she was.”
Emily stared through the narrow crack in the door. Richard Hale stood beside the dining table, furious that several guests had witnessed what happened. His elderly mother, Margaret, remained seated beside him, pale and visibly shaken. She wasn’t watching Richard anymore. Her frightened eyes were fixed on the pantry door, as though she knew Emily was listening.
“Leave through the kitchen,” the caller warned. “Do not let Margaret Hale see the necklace.” Emily instinctively touched the silver chain beneath her white blouse. That warning came too late. Margaret suddenly appeared at the doorway. Her gaze dropped toward the chain, and the old woman’s face lost every trace of color.
“Where did you get that?” Margaret whispered. Emily stepped backward. “It belonged to my mother.” Margaret gripped the doorframe. For several terrifying seconds, she seemed unable to breathe. Then she looked toward the dining room and lowered her voice. “Your mother didn’t leave this house voluntarily.”
Before Emily could answer, Richard’s footsteps approached. Margaret grabbed Emily’s wrist with surprising strength. “Listen carefully. There’s a photograph behind the painting in the upstairs library. Find it before Richard does.” She released Emily just as Richard entered the pantry. His expression changed when he saw his mother standing beside the young waitress.
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“What are you two talking about?” Richard demanded. Margaret smiled weakly. “Dinner.” Richard didn’t believe her. Emily could see it immediately. His eyes dropped to her hand, then toward the phone she was hiding against her skirt. “Give me your phone,” he said. Emily tightened her fingers around it. “No.”
Richard took one step toward her. Margaret moved between them. The entire mansion suddenly seemed silent. Then Emily’s phone vibrated. A message appeared across the screen from the mysterious caller. Only seven words were written there: HE KNOWS WHO YOUR FATHER REALLY IS.
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