Chapter 4 - The EnvelopeEmily left the courtyard.
No one stopped her.
Not after she looked Richard in the eye and said, “I need my mother’s envelope.”
Richard offered to send security with her.
Emily refused.
“I don’t know you.”
The words clearly hurt him.
But he nodded.
“I understand.”
Victoria watched from behind him.
She said nothing.
That silence frightened Emily more than her insults.
One hour later, Emily stood inside her tiny apartment above a bakery twelve miles from the castle.
Her wet uniform lay in a heap on the bathroom floor.
She had changed into jeans and a sweater.
On the kitchen table sat the envelope.
Cream paper.
Her name written across the front.
EMILY.
Anna’s handwriting.
Emily had carried it in her desk drawer for three months.
She had almost opened it dozens of times.
But her mother’s instruction had been precise.
Only when someone recognizes the necklace.
Emily sat down.
Her hands trembled.
She tore the seal.
Inside were three things.
A letter.
A photograph.
And a key.
Emily picked up the photograph first.
Her mother stood beside another woman.
Both were young.
Both looked almost identical.
But one was clearly older.
On the back, Anna had written:
Me and my mother. 1999.
Emily’s heart pounded.
If the portrait at the castle had been painted in 1978…
Then Eleanor could absolutely have been this woman.
Emily unfolded the letter.
My darling Emily,
If you are reading this, someone has recognized the necklace.
That means I failed to keep the past buried.
Emily swallowed.
I need you to understand something before anyone gives you their version of what happened.
Your grandmother was Eleanor Whitmore.
She did not run away.
She escaped.
Emily read faster.
Your great-grandfather, Charles Whitmore, controlled the family through money, fear, and secrets. When Eleanor became pregnant, she discovered something inside the Whitmore estate records.
Something that could have destroyed Charles.
She planned to expose him.
But before she could, someone betrayed her.
Emily stopped.
There was a sound outside.
Footsteps in the hallway.
She froze.
Then someone knocked.
Three slow taps.
Emily folded the letter.
“Who is it?”
No answer.
She moved quietly toward the door.
Another knock.
Emily looked through the peephole.
Empty hallway.
She backed away.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Hello?”
Richard’s voice.
“Emily, are you home?”
She stiffened.
“How did you get my number?”
“You’re employed by the estate.”
“What do you want?”
“I need you to leave your apartment.”
Emily looked toward the door.
“Why?”
“Victoria is gone.”
Emily’s chest tightened.
“What?”
“She left the castle twenty minutes ago.”
“And?”
“And she took one of the estate vehicles.”
Emily stared at the locked door.
Richard continued.
“I don’t know where she went.”
Emily whispered, “Do you think she’s coming here?”
“I don’t know.”
Another knock sounded.
Emily nearly dropped the phone.
Richard heard it.
“Emily?”
She didn’t answer.
“Emily, get away from the door.”
The doorknob moved.
Once.
Twice.
Someone was trying it.
Emily backed into the kitchen.
Her eyes went to the key on the table.
Then to her mother’s unfinished letter.
Richard’s voice sharpened.
“I’m sending the police.”
“No.”
“What?”
“I don’t know who I can trust.”
The handle stopped moving.
Silence.
Emily held her breath.
Then a piece of paper slid under the door.
Footsteps retreated.
Emily waited.
Thirty seconds.
A minute.
She approached slowly.
The paper was a photograph.
Her mother.
Older.
Standing outside Whitmore Castle.
Dated six months before her death.
Emily’s stomach turned.
On the back, someone had written:
ANNA CAME BACK.
ASK RICHARD WHY.
Emily stared at the words.
Richard was still on the phone.
“Emily?”
She looked at the unfinished letter.
Then at the photograph.
Her mother had visited the castle six months ago.
Yet Richard had claimed he didn’t know Anna.
Emily picked up the phone.
“Richard.”
“Yes?”
“You lied to me.”
A pause.
“About what?”
“My mother.”
Silence.
Emily’s voice turned cold.
“She came to the castle six months ago.”
May you like
Richard said nothing.
And in that silence, Emily got her answer.
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