Chapter 4 - VIVIAN’S TERRIFIED ORDERVivian’s expression changed for less than a second.
Sophie saw it.
So did Adrian.
He crouched in front of Chloe.
“Where did you see her?”
Chloe pressed herself against Sophie.
“At the window.”
“What window?”
“The white room.”
Vivian interrupted.
“She is inventing memories because everyone is upset.”
Chloe shook her head.
“You were there.”
“Chloe.”
“You closed the curtain.”
Adrian stood.
“Let her speak.”
Vivian lowered her voice.
“She is five years old.”
“That does not mean she has nothing to say.”
Chloe struggled to explain.
It happened when she was smaller.
Vivian took her to visit someone in a large building with a garden.
Chloe waited in a white room.
Through a window in the door, she saw a woman sitting on a bed.
The woman touched two fingers to her heart and then to her forehead.
The same goodnight sign Sophie made in the gallery.
“When was this?” Adrian asked.
“I don’t know.”
Vivian shook her head.
“She is describing a dream.”
Chloe pointed toward the red-haired woman.
“You said that then.”
Vivian’s control cracked.
“Enough!”
Chloe flinched.
Sophie stepped between them.
“Do not shout at her.”
Vivian’s face became cold.
“You have no authority here.”
“She is frightened.”
“Because of you.”
Sophie’s voice remained quiet.
“No. She was frightened before she saw me.”
Adrian looked at Chloe.
He remembered the child becoming withdrawn after Vivian began planning the engagement.
He assumed Chloe struggled with the idea of a new mother.
Maybe she had been carrying a real memory no one allowed her to describe.
Vivian turned toward Marc Delon.
“Remove Sophie from the gallery. Now.”
Marc did not move.
“This is Mr. Beaumont’s event.”
Vivian looked at Adrian.
“Tell him.”
Adrian stared at Sophie’s exposed face.
His mind resisted what his eyes accepted.
He needed facts.
But he would not allow Vivian to silence Chloe.
“No one removes Sophie.”
Vivian stepped back.
“You are choosing a stranger over the woman who helped raise your daughter.”
“I am choosing to ask questions.”
“In front of all these people?”
Adrian turned to Marc.
“Close the gallery.”
Marc directed the guests toward the exits.
Several protested.
Most left reluctantly, still whispering.
Within minutes, only Adrian, Chloe, Sophie, Vivian, Marc and two security guards remained beneath the chandeliers.
Vivian watched the doors close.
“This is exactly what she wanted.”
Sophie shook her head.
“I wanted to see my daughter.”
“You applied for a cleaning position using false documents.”
“My documents say Élise Martin because that is the name I was given.”
“You could have contacted Adrian privately.”
“I tried.”
Adrian looked at her.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“I received nothing.”
“I sent six letters.”
Vivian became very still.
Sophie continued.
“I telephoned your office. A woman answered.”
Adrian looked toward Vivian.
For the last four years, she had managed access to his private schedule.
“What did the woman say?” he asked.
“That Sophie Beaumont was dead. She told me if I contacted you again, police would arrest me for harassment.”
Vivian folded her arms.
“Your office receives delusional calls every week.”
“You answered?”
“I may have.”
“Did you tell her I would have her arrested?”
“I protected you.”
Sophie reached into the pocket of her cleaning uniform.
She removed an unopened envelope.
It bore Adrian’s name and home address.
Across the front, someone had stamped:
RETURN TO SENDER — RECIPIENT REFUSED.
Adrian touched the handwriting.
It resembled Sophie’s old script.
Vivian approached quickly.
“That proves nothing.”
Sophie pulled the envelope away.
Marc spoke from beside the security desk.
“There is something else.”
Everyone turned.
“The gallery’s employee entrance has facial-recognition security.”
Sophie looked alarmed.
“I wore my mask.”
“The system also uses eye geometry.”
Marc opened a database.
“When you began working here two weeks ago, the system produced a hidden identity alert.”
“Why wasn’t I informed?” Adrian asked.
May you like
Marc looked toward Vivian.
“Because Madame Laurent personally disabled it.”
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