Chapter 3
The old chapel was beneath the east wing.
Richard tried to stop me before I reached the hallway.
“You’re not opening anything.”
I kept walking.
“You threw my daughter onto the floor.”
“She wasn’t thrown.”
Lily looked over my shoulder.
“You pulled chair.”
Richard glared at her.
“Stop lying.”
My daughter recoiled.
I stopped.
Turned.
Walked back.
Richard smiled as if he had won.
Then I stepped close enough that he had to look down at me.
“You will never call her a liar again.”
His smile faded.
Daniel moved between us.
“Emma, she’s three. She misunderstands.”
Lily buried her face against my neck.
I looked at my husband.
“She understands who hurts her.”
That silenced him.
Six Hart bodyguards followed me toward the chapel.
Richard noticed.
His expression darkened.
“Those men answer to Daniel.”
My captain replied:
“No, sir.”
Richard stared.
The guard looked at me.
“We answer to Mrs. Hart.”
Margaret sat down slowly.
Daniel looked confused.
Good.
My control of the organization had remained quiet for years.
Not secret from everyone.
Only from the people who believed titles mattered more than loyalty.
Under the chapel stairs, I found a narrow keyhole inside the wooden paneling.
The antique key turned once.
A section of wall opened.
Cold air moved through.
Old stone steps descended beneath the estate.
Richard arrived behind us.
His face was gray.
“Emma.”
First time he had used my name without contempt all night.
“Don’t.”
I looked back.
“Why?”
Silence.
Margaret whispered:
“Because Eleanor knew.”
“Knew what?”
Richard snapped:
“Margaret.”
She looked at him.
For once, fear became anger.
“You’ve frightened everyone long enough.”
Richard stepped toward her.
I moved between them.
Margaret looked at me.
“Eleanor knew Richard was using this house for meetings she never approved.”
“With whom?”
Margaret’s eyes moved toward Daniel.
My husband went still.
She whispered:
“The Calders.”
I knew the name.
May you like
A rival family Richard had publicly called vermin for twenty years.
And apparently welcomed beneath our home in private.
