Chapter 1 - THE NAME IN THE LEDGER
Adrian Cole stared at the silver lighter in Nora’s tiny hands.
It was heavy for a child, polished carefully, and marked by a narrow
repair line near the hinge. Adrian knew every scratch. The lighter had
belonged to James, his older brother—the man Adrian had buried five
years earlier.
Emma Cole stood beside her daughter, one hand hovering near Nora’s
shoulder.
“I can explain,” she said.
Adrian lifted the lid. Beneath the hinge was a small repair number.
“Where did you get this?”
“Mommy keeps it safe,” Nora answered. “Daddy gave it to her.”
Adrian looked at Emma. Her face had gone pale.
His security chief, Gabriel Shaw, stepped closer. “I called the jeweler
whose number is stamped inside. He still has the old service ledger.”
Adrian nodded for him to call.
An elderly voice answered. “Harrow & Sons.”
“This is Gabriel Shaw. We have a silver lighter with your repair
number.”
A pause followed. “I remember that piece.”
“When was it repaired?” Adrian asked.
“Four years ago. The hinge was loose. The customer’s name was Emma
Cole.”
Adrian turned slowly toward Emma.
“You had James’s lighter a year after his funeral?”
“He gave it to me.”
“That’s impossible.”
Nora tugged his sleeve. “Mommy says Daddy came back once.”
Nobody moved.
Adrian lowered himself to her height. “What did you say, sweetheart?”
“Daddy came back once. Mommy said he couldn’t stay.”
Adrian looked at Emma again. “Tell me the truth.”
“Not here. Not in front of Nora.”
“You’ve had five years.”
“And you spent five years believing whatever your uncle told you.”
The words struck him harder than she intended.
He sent Nora with Gabriel to the sitting room. When the door closed, he
faced Emma.
“Start at the beginning.”
Emma stared at the lighter.
“James wasn’t dead when I brought this to the jeweler.”
Adrian felt the room tilt.
“Then where is he?”
May you like
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “But I know who wanted everyone to
believe he was dead.”
