Chapter 4: The Man Wearing My Father's Ring
For several seconds, Vincent couldn't breathe.
The man standing in the doorway looked older than the photographs Vincent remembered from childhood. His silver hair was thinner, his face more deeply lined, and a narrow scar ran from his right cheek toward his jaw.
But the eyes were the same.
Cold. Calculating. Uncomfortably familiar.
Vincent stared at the gold signet ring on the man's right hand.
It bore the Sterling family crest.
The same ring his father had worn for nearly forty years.
The same ring Vincent had placed inside his father's coffin.
“How?”” Vincent finally whispered.
Thomas stepped into the study without waiting for permission.
“That's a complicated question.””
Vincent moved between him and Elena.
“You're supposed to be dead.””
Thomas glanced at Victoria.
“Apparently, that's a popular story in this house.””
Victoria had backed against the desk. Her face was almost gray.
“Get out,” she whispered.
Thomas smiled.
“Victoria, darling. Is that how you welcome an old friend?””
“Don't call me that.””
“Still pretending we don't know each other?””
Vincent's eyes moved between them.
“Somebody better start explaining.””
Thomas placed his leather briefcase on the desk.
“Your father was a brilliant man, Vincent. Unfortunately, he had a weakness.””
“What weakness?””
“Trusting the wrong people.””
Vincent's jaw tightened.
“You're talking about my father?””
“I'm talking about the man who paid me to keep this family together.””
Elena stepped forward.
“Don't believe him.””
Thomas turned toward her.
“Still dramatic, Elena?””
“You told me Vincent was dead.””
Thomas shrugged.
“I told you what you needed to hear.””
Vincent looked at Elena.
“What is he talking about?””
Elena's eyes filled.
“After the fire, Thomas found me hiding in an abandoned storage building. He said Victoria had arranged everything and that you had been killed trying to find me.””
Vincent felt something tighten in his chest.
“I was alive.””
“I didn't know that.””
Thomas adjusted his cuff.
“She believed me. I moved her between three properties over the next several months. I supplied food, medicine, and transportation.””
“Why?”” Vincent demanded.
“Because I was paid to.””
“By whom?””
Thomas looked at the family portrait hanging above the fireplace.
“Your father.””
Vincent shook his head.
“My father died seven years ago.””
“His money didn't.””
Thomas opened the briefcase.
Inside were several documents, two old photographs, and a thick envelope sealed with dark red wax.
He placed the envelope on the desk.
“Your father left instructions. They were supposed to be followed after his death.””
Vincent didn't touch it.
“What instructions?””
Thomas looked at Victoria.
“Ask your wife.””
Victoria immediately shook her head.
“I never saw that envelope.””
Thomas laughed.
“You signed for it.””
“I didn't!””
“You signed the receipt in front of three witnesses.””
Vincent turned toward her.
“Victoria?””
She looked away.
Elena approached the desk and picked up one of the photographs.
It showed a younger Thomas standing outside the Sterling family estate.
Beside him was Vincent's father.
But there was a third person.
A woman wearing a white dress.
Elena.
The photograph had been taken less than two weeks before the fire.
She stared at it.
“I've never seen this.””
Thomas smiled.
“Of course you haven't.””
Vincent took the photograph.
On the back, someone had written a date and a sentence in blue ink.
The replacement must be ready before the original disappears.
Vincent read it twice.
“What replacement?””
Thomas leaned back.
“That's the question your wife should have asked three years ago.””
Elena looked at Victoria.
“What did you replace?””
Victoria's lips trembled.
Thomas closed the briefcase.
“There's no point discussing it here. We need the chest.””
Vincent immediately moved toward the door.
“Nobody touches that chest.””
Thomas's expression hardened.
“You don't understand what's at stake.””
“Then explain it.””
“The chest contains evidence that could destroy the Sterling family.””
Vincent stared at him.
“Which Sterling family?””
Thomas smiled faintly.
“All of us.””
They returned to the foyer together.
The antique chest remained beneath the staircase.
The initials E.M. caught the chandelier light.
Grace was standing near the sitting-room doorway, wrapped in a soft blanket. Maria had helped her downstairs after she heard the commotion.
When Grace saw Thomas, she stopped.
Her fingers tightened around the blanket.
Thomas noticed.
“Well,” he said.
“You have company.””
Vincent looked at Grace.
“Do you know this man?””
Grace swallowed.
“Yes, sir.””
Thomas's smile disappeared.
“Be careful what you say.””
Vincent stepped toward her.
“Grace?””
She looked at Thomas, then at the chest.
“He came here the night before I started working.””
Victoria turned sharply.
“What?””
Grace continued.
“He was carrying that same briefcase. I heard him arguing with Mrs. Sterling in the library.””
Thomas approached her.
“That's enough.””
Vincent stepped between them.
“Don't move.””
Thomas stopped.
Grace took a breath.
“He said the chest had to be moved before the police returned. Mrs. Sterling said it was too risky because the engraving hadn't been removed.””
Vincent looked at the brass plate.
“Removed?””
Grace nodded.
“I think they were going to replace it with another one.””
Thomas's expression changed.
For the first time, Vincent saw genuine anger in his face.
“You've been listening to conversations that don't concern you.””
Grace lowered her eyes.
“I'm sorry.””
“Don't apologize,” Vincent said.
He turned to Thomas.
“Open the briefcase.””
Thomas frowned.
“What?””
“Put it on the floor. Open it.””
“Vincent, don't be childish.””
Vincent stepped closer.
“Do it.””
Thomas slowly lowered the briefcase.
As he opened it, a small metallic object fell onto the marble.
It rolled toward the chest.
Vincent bent down and picked it up.
It was a brass key.
On its handle were two engraved letters.
E.M.
Elena gasped.
“My grandmother's key.””
Thomas's face tightened.
Vincent looked at the chest.
“Then we're opening it.””
“No!”” Victoria shouted.
She lunged forward, reaching for the key.
Vincent pulled his hand away.
“Don't.””
“You don't know what you're doing!””
“I'm beginning to think that's the only thing you know how to say.””
He inserted the key into the hidden lock beneath the brass plate.
It turned.
A heavy click echoed through the foyer.
The lid remained closed.
Vincent looked at Thomas.
“Now what?””
Thomas stared at the chest.
Then he looked at Elena.
“You really don't remember what your grandmother told you?””
Elena's face went pale.
She stepped closer.
“I remember.””
“What?””
She looked at Vincent.
“She told me never to open it unless someone from the Sterling family was standing beside me.””
Vincent looked down at the key.
Then back at his wife.
“Why?””
Elena's voice trembled.
“Because the chest doesn't just contain my family's belongings.””
She placed her hand on the lid.
“It contains the truth about who your father really was.””
And somewhere inside the chest, something clicked.
Not a lock.
A clock.
A small mechanical ticking began beneath the wood.
Thomas took an immediate step backward.
“Everyone away from it.””
Vincent stared at him.
“What did you put inside?””
Thomas didn't answer.
Then Elena whispered the words that made Vincent's stomach drop.
“It's a recording.””
May you like
The ticking stopped.
And a tiny red light appeared beneath the brass plate.
