Chapter 6
We found Graham’s office empty.
Desk clean.
Too clean.
No family photos.
No paperwork.
No coat.
He had planned to leave.
But he made one mistake.
He left behind a seating map for the engagement reception.
Nothing unusual.
Until I noticed four names circled.
Mine.
Sybilla.
Alistair.
Estelle.
Not guests.
Roles.
I turned the page.
A handwritten sequence:
10:42 guards moved.
10:55 suite ready.
11:00 M enters.
11:03 S upstairs.
11:05 discovery.
Discovery.
Who discovers us?
Sybilla.
There it was.
Not a random compromising scene.
A staged betrayal.
I enter my bedroom.
Camera runs.
A woman or signs of one create appearance of infidelity.
Sybilla arrives at 11:03.
Public heartbreak follows.
Her father’s security team already inside becomes witness.
My guards appear incompetent.
My fiancée appears humiliated.
Alistair becomes both protective father and security savior.
Perfect leverage.
Except why would Graham help Vane by framing me when Vane did not authorize that part?
Maybe because Graham wanted the engagement destroyed.
I looked at Sybilla.
“Who benefits if you leave me tonight?”
She stared.
“My father?”
“Not if he wanted the marriage.”
True.
Alistair’s entire staged exercise existed to prove he deserved deeper access after the wedding.
He needed us together.
Someone else wanted us apart.
Then Estelle touched my sleeve lightly.
“Sir.”
She looked at the seating map.
“Those circles.”
“What?”
“Mr. Pell uses those when he sends staff between floors.”
“How do you know?”
“He trained me.”
Interesting.
“What does S mean?”
She shook her head.
“Not Sybilla.”
I looked at the sequence again.
11:03 S upstairs.
“If it were Miss Sybilla, he’d write VH.”
Initials were role codes.
M = master.
S = service.
A staff member was supposed to enter at 11:03.
Not Sybilla.
Then discovery at 11:05.
Who?
Suddenly I understood.
May you like
Estelle was not only the scapegoat.
She was supposed to be the woman in the room.
