Chapter 5 - THE NECKLACE MY WIFE GAVE AWAY
“Mommy was scared?”
Lily nodded, still holding her drawing.
I sat beside her on the playroom rug.
“Sweetheart, did Miss Margaret tell you that?”
“Uh-huh.”
“What else did she say?”
Lily thought for a moment.
“She said Mommy was being brave.”
My eyes filled.
Sarah had always been brave.
But courage hadn't saved her.
And now I was beginning to understand that her final days might have been very different from the peaceful life I remembered.
I kissed Lily's forehead.
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
She glanced toward the door.
“Is Victoria mad at me?”
“No.”
I paused.
“Victoria made some bad choices. Those choices are hers, not yours.”
Lily traced the petals on her pink purse.
“She said Mommy wouldn't want me.”
Something inside me seemed to split open.
I had heard Victoria insult my daughter that morning.
But I hadn't imagined she had been using Sarah's memory to hurt her.
I pulled Lily into my arms.
“Your mommy loved you more than anything in the world.”
“Even when I spilled juice?”
I managed a small smile.
“Especially then.”
Lily giggled faintly.
I held her until her breathing steadied.
Then I carried her downstairs to Mrs. Parker.
“Please keep Lily with you for a while.”
Mrs. Parker looked at my face.
“Of course.”
I found Victoria in the master bedroom.
Her wedding dress lay across the bed.
She had changed into black trousers and a cream blouse.
Two suitcases stood near the doorway.
For a moment, I remembered the woman I believed I knew.
The woman who brought soup when I was sick.
The woman who stayed beside me through difficult business meetings.
The woman who told me Lily was fortunate to have such a devoted father.
I wanted that woman to be real.
But the person standing in front of me had frightened my child.
“Daniel,” she said quietly.
“We need to talk.”
She looked exhausted.
“I know.”
I closed the door behind me.
“Where is Sarah's ruby necklace?”
Victoria went still.
“What?”
“The pendant she inherited from her grandmother.”
She looked away.
“I don't know.”
“You wore one at our engagement party.”
“That was mine.”
“Where did you get it?”
She rubbed her forehead.
“Daniel, please. Haven't we done enough damage today?”
I watched her carefully.
“Sarah gave you a necklace before she died.”
Victoria's face changed.
Not dramatically.
Just a slight tightening around her eyes.
“Who told you that?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“Lily mentioned it.”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“A five-year-old is now your source of information?”
“My daughter repeated something Margaret told her.”
“Of course she did.”
Victoria turned toward the window.
“Margaret has wanted me gone since the beginning.”
“Then explain the necklace.”
Victoria remained silent.
I waited.
Finally, she opened her jewelry case.
From the bottom drawer, she removed a velvet pouch.
Inside lay Sarah's ruby pendant.
I recognized every detail.
The gold chain.
The small oval stone.
The tiny scratch near the clasp.
Sarah had caught it on a drawer handle one Christmas morning.
I had offered to replace it.
She said the scratch made it hers.
I stared at the necklace.
“Why do you have this?”
Victoria sat on the edge of the bed.
“Because Sarah gave it to me.”
“Why?”
Her eyes filled.
“She wanted me to sell it.”
I frowned.
“Sell it?”
“To help cover missing money.”
A chill traveled through me.
“What missing money?”
Victoria wiped her face.
“Daniel, I made a terrible mistake when I worked at the charity.”
I said nothing.
She continued.
“My mother was sick. The medical bills were enormous. My father had already borrowed everything he could.”
She looked down at her hands.
“I transferred money from an administrative account. I intended to repay it.”
“How much?”
“Twenty thousand dollars.”
I studied her expression.
“Sarah discovered it?”
Victoria nodded.
“She confronted me. I begged her not to report me.”
“And she gave you her necklace?”
“She said I could sell it and replace the money.”
I wanted to believe that.
It sounded like Sarah.
She was compassionate, sometimes to a fault.
But something bothered me.
“If Sarah helped you, why didn't you tell me you knew her?”
Victoria lowered her head.
“Because I was ashamed.”
I remained standing.
“Was that the only money missing?”
Her silence answered before she spoke.
“No.”
“How much?”
“I don't know.”
I felt anger rising.
“You were the financial compliance director.”
“I wasn't the only person handling the accounts.”
“Who else?”
Victoria's expression hardened.
“My father was doing consulting work for the charity.”
I stared at her.
“Stephen Whitmore?”
She nodded.
“He handled vendor payments and equipment purchases.”
“And he serviced Sarah's car?”
Victoria looked startled.
“What?”
I showed her the receipt.
The color drained from her face.
“Where did you get that?”
“Margaret.”
Victoria stood abruptly.
“That woman has no idea what she's doing.”
“Then explain it.”
“My father was helping Sarah with a warning light. She called him that afternoon.”
“Why?”
“Because he'd worked on her car before.”
I watched Victoria's hands.
They were trembling.
“Did he do anything to the brakes?”
Her head snapped up.
“No!”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes!”
She stepped toward me.
“Daniel, I know you hate me right now, but my father didn't kill your wife.”
I hadn't used that word.
Kill.
Victoria seemed to realize it.
She covered her mouth.
I stared at her.
“What happened that night?”
“I don't know.”
“Victoria.”
“I swear!”
For several seconds, the room was silent.
Then she began crying.
Not loudly.
Not theatrically.
She simply sank onto the bed and covered her face.
“My father was desperate,” she whispered. “He was losing the business. He thought the charity contracts could save him.”
“Did he steal money?”
“He inflated invoices. I found out after Sarah started asking questions.”
“Did you report him?”
Victoria shook her head.
“He was my father.”
“And Sarah?”
“She said she'd give him one week to correct the records.”
I looked at the necklace.
“So why did she give you this?”
Victoria whispered, “She didn't.”
I stared at her.
A moment passed.
Then another.
“What?”
Victoria looked up, tears running down her cheeks.
“I took it.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“From where?”
“Her office.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought she'd hidden copies of the financial records inside the pendant.”
I looked down at the necklace.
“Inside?”
Victoria nodded.
“Sarah told me she was keeping evidence close. I thought she meant the necklace.”
“Did you find anything?”
“No.”
I opened the pendant's clasp.
There was no hidden compartment.
Only a tiny engraving on the back.
For Sarah, with love — Mom.
I remembered Sarah's mother giving it to her on her twenty-first birthday.
The necklace was sentimental.
Not a secret container.
Victoria had stolen it because she was frightened.
Then she had worn it in my home.
In front of my daughter.
I felt suddenly exhausted.
“Why did you tell Lily her mother didn't want her?”
Victoria covered her face again.
“I wanted her to stop talking about Sarah.”
“Why?”
“Because every time she mentioned her mother, I felt like I was standing beside someone I could never replace.”
I shook my head.
“You weren't supposed to replace her.”
Victoria looked at me.
“I know that now.”
“No. You should have known it from the beginning.”
I placed the necklace on the dresser.
“You need to leave.”
She nodded slowly.
“I understand.”
“And you will have no contact with Lily unless I approve it.”
Her face crumpled.
“Daniel—”
“That is not negotiable.”
Victoria rose.
She took one suitcase.
Then she stopped at the doorway.
“There's something about the locker.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“Sarah wasn't collecting evidence only against my father.”
My pulse quickened.
Victoria's voice dropped.
“She discovered that someone at your company was approving the charity payments.”
I stared at her.
“Who?”
Victoria hesitated.
“I don't know his real name.”
“Then what do you know?”
She looked directly at me.
“He used a company authorization code.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“What code?”
Victoria swallowed.
“D-17.”
I went completely still.
D-17 was not a general company code.
It was the authorization assigned to one of my most trusted senior executives.
May you like
My younger brother.
Michael.
