Chapter 5

Julian took us through the service halls. The walls were concrete. The gala glittered behind us like a different planet. My locker was in the staff changing room near the loading dock.

Eli held my hand. “Mom, why is that man helping us?”

“He’s my father,” I whispered.

He looked up. “I thought Grandpa was dead.”

“So did I.”

Julian heard. He didn’t turn around.

At my locker, I spun the combination. My hands were cold. Inside: a grease-stained coat, a box of tea, a photo of Daniel, and a manila envelope I had not opened in years.

I pulled out the letter. Julian took it. The paper was thick. The notary stamp was red. Arthur Reeves’s signature was a neat slash at the bottom.

The letter said:

Eliza, Your father has instructed me to inform you that he does not wish further contact. He considers your marriage a betrayal and your disappearance a relief. Do not attempt to reach him. Do not use his name. If you return to Chicago, he will not protect you.

Julian read it twice. His face did not move. “I never wrote this.”

“It has your name.”

“It has Arthur’s notary stamp.” He held the page to the light. “I never authorized this. I never saw it.”

I stared at the notary stamp. “Arthur told me you dictated it.”

Julian’s voice was quiet. “Arthur told me you died.”

We stood there in the humming fluorescent light. The truth was simple and ugly. Arthur Reeves had been the bridge between us. He had told each of us a different lie.

“He wanted me hidden,” I said. “Why?”

Julian folded the letter. “Because Victor needed you gone. And because I needed to believe you were dead.”

“Because of the company?”

“Because of everything.” Julian looked toward the door. “If Arthur kept you hidden, Victor had leverage. If I believed you were dead, I would sign anything to make the pain stop.”

I remembered the years after the boating accident. The sale of Thorne Capital. The way Julian had retreated from public life. I had thought he was grieving. He had been.

A phone buzzed. We both froze.

Through the changing room window, I saw Mrs. Prescott in the hall. She had her phone to her ear. Her face was tight with excitement.

“Yes,” she said. “The pendant. Julian Thorne has her.”

Julian’s hand closed around the letter. “She’s calling Victor.”