The Woman in Bronze
Chapter 04 - The Woman in Bronze
Victoria did not answer.
For years, certainty had been her armor. She trusted schedules, contracts, and the polished manners of people who understood her world. Emma’s arrival had unsettled her because Emma could not be measured by any of those things. She did not flatter Victoria, fear her, or compete with her. She simply loved Daniel—and that made Victoria suspicious.
Now, standing in the corridor with police moving past her, Victoria clung to the version of events Marcus had given her.
He had called twelve minutes before the ceremony and said he had caught Leo in Richard’s suite. He claimed the boy smashed the case after being told he could not wear the Hawthorne family pin. He warned Victoria that Emma would use the incident to accuse the family of mistreating her son.
By the time Leo entered the ballroom, bleeding and crying, Victoria had already been prepared to see a criminal rather than a child.
“I was protecting this family,” she said.
“You pointed at a wounded seven-year-old in front of two hundred people,” Daniel replied. “You did not ask if he was alive. You asked someone to stop him.”
The words struck harder than shouting.
Emma stepped into the corridor. Her expression was calm, but her eyes were red. “I won’t argue with you tonight. Leo is leaving this hotel, and I’m going with him.”
Victoria looked toward the ballroom. “And the wedding?”
“There is no wedding until my son feels safe.”
Daniel removed the white flower from his lapel and placed it on a side table. “Then I’m leaving too.”
For the first time, Victoria’s control cracked. “Daniel, think carefully. The press is already downstairs. If you walk out now, they will say Emma staged this.”
Daniel took Emma’s hand. “Let them talk.”
As they headed toward the private elevator, an elderly man stepped from the ballroom. His name was Arthur Bell, Richard Hart’s former attorney. He had attended the ceremony quietly and had not spoken during the chaos.
“Daniel,” Arthur said, “before you leave, you should know that your father changed his trust six months before he died.”
Victoria’s eyes widened.
Arthur continued. “The amendment becomes active on your marriage. It transfers controlling authority of the Hart Children’s Foundation to you and your spouse. If the marriage is canceled under allegations of fraud or criminal conduct, interim authority passes to the senior surviving son.”
Marcus.
Emma immediately understood. The missing necklace was not the prize. It was evidence meant to destroy the wedding and place Marcus in control of a foundation worth hundreds of millions.
Arthur lowered his voice. “There is one more problem. The amendment was stored in Richard’s private suite.”
Daniel looked toward the eighth-floor elevators.
May you like
“The envelope Leo carried,” he said.
Arthur nodded. “If Marcus has it, he can replace it with a forged version before the trustees meet tomorrow morning.”
