Chapter 4 - THE BOARDING PASS
Victoria’s face turned the color of chalk.
She dropped her hand from David’s shoulder.
“Sam, sweetheart,” Victoria said, her voice trembling slightly. “You have a very active imagination.”
Sam didn’t look at her.
He walked over to his father and climbed onto his knee.
“I was hiding under the table in the hallway,” Sam said plainly. “Playing hide and seek with the dog. I saw her.”
He pointed at Victoria again.
“She had Mommy’s necklace. She put it in Clara’s bag when Clara was crying in the foyer.”
David Vance went completely still.
He was a man who loved his children above all else.
And he knew his son.
Sam didn’t lie.
David slowly turned his head to look at his fiancée.
“Victoria.”
Her name sounded like a threat.
“David, he’s just a child,” she stammered. “He’s confused. He probably saw me carrying my own jewelry.”
David picked up the pearls from the desk.
“Did you plant my dead wife’s necklace in my maid’s locker?”
“No!”
Victoria started to cry.
Large, perfect tears.
“I was just trying to protect our family, David! She’s negligent! I was terrified after what happened on the stairs. I just wanted her gone before someone got hurt!”
It was a confession wrapped in a victim’s plea.
I watched her play the role flawlessly.
David stared at her for a long time.
Then he set the pearls back down.
“The wedding is postponed,” David said.
Victoria stopped crying instantly.
“What?”
“We were supposed to be married on Saturday. We are pushing it back a month.”
“David, you can't be serious! The guests, the catering—”
“I need time to think,” David said coldly. “Marcus, escort Victoria to her suite. Clara, you are not fired. You are now officially in charge of both boys. Nobody else watches them. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” I whispered.
Victoria glared at me with a hatred so pure it burned.
She turned and marched out of the room, Marcus following closely behind.
For the next two days, the mansion felt like a powder keg.
Victoria locked herself in her room, making furious phone calls.
I stayed close to Leo and Sam.
On Thursday afternoon, I was emptying the trash bins in the main office.
The shredder was full, so I opened it to change the bag.
As I pulled the plastic bag out, a scrap of thick paper fell to the floor.
It hadn't gone through the shredder properly.
It was wedged in the teeth.
I carefully pulled it out.
It was a printed boarding pass.
First Class.
Dallas to Zurich, Switzerland.
The departure date was Sunday.
The day after the original wedding date.
But the name on the ticket wasn't Victoria Sterling.
It was Victoria Vance.
She had booked a one-way international flight for the morning after she was supposed to become a billionaire's wife.
I stared at the ticket.
She wasn't planning a honeymoon.
She was planning to run.
“Looking for a way out?”
I spun around.
Victoria was standing in the doorway of the office.
She wasn't wearing her usual silk gowns.
She wore dark jeans and a black sweater.
She walked in and locked the office door behind her.
“Give me that,” she demanded, holding out her hand.
“You’re leaving,” I said, clutching the ticket. “You were going to marry him, secure the spousal trust, and flee the country.”
Victoria smiled.
It was a terrifying, hollow smile.
“You’re smarter than you look, Clara.”
May you like
She took a step closer.
“But it doesn't matter. Because if you show that ticket to David, your mother is going to die.”
