Alexander noticed something strange. His fiancée had been perfectly composed throughout the evening, even when his father made the mysterious announcement. But now she looked as though she were trying to remember something she desperately wished she could forget.
“Victoria,” he said, “do you know what this document is?”
She glanced at the page.
“No.”
The answer came too quickly.
Emily quietly returned the document to her folder.
“That’s fine. We can discuss it another time.”
She turned toward Richard.
“I’ll give you until midnight.”
“Emily, please,” Richard said. “You don’t understand what you’re threatening.”
“I understand more than you think.”
She walked toward the entrance.
Alexander followed her into the corridor.
“Stop.”
Emily stopped but did not turn around.
“What do you want from us?”
“Nothing from you.”
“Then why return after twelve years?”
She faced him.
“Because someone recently contacted me with evidence that my father’s death wasn’t the only tragedy connected to your family’s business.”
Alexander frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means your father wasn’t the only person who knew the truth.”
Before he could respond, Emily handed him a small envelope.
“Read this when you’re alone.”
“What’s inside?”
“A letter your father wrote to mine three days before the scandal destroyed both our families.”
Alexander looked down at the envelope.
“Why would my father write to Daniel Carter?”
“Because they were friends before they became enemies.”
Emily walked away before he could ask another question.
Alexander returned to the ballroom with the envelope hidden inside his jacket. The celebration had effectively ended. Guests departed in small groups, whispering about what they had witnessed.
Richard had disappeared into his private office.
Victoria waited beside the staircase.
“We need to talk,” she said.
Alexander barely looked at her.
“Not now.”
