Chapter 2 - THE UNRAVELING OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS
The silence in the grand lobby was absolute.
You could hear a pin drop on the Italian marble.
Richard’s smile froze,
cracking like dry paint.
What,
Richard scoffed,
though a bead of sweat formed on his temple.
Mrs. Crawford,
you must be mistaken,
this is just some stray orphan we picked up—
Silence, Mr. Sterling,
Eleanor snapped with a fury that rattled the glass doors.
Her voice carried the crushing weight of a billionaire empire.
She stepped closer to me,
ignoring Richard entirely.
She reached out with shaking fingers,
hovering just above the silver bracelet.
Look at the inner clasp,
Eleanor choked out.
There is a tiny monogram,
an EC intertwined with a star.
My heart pounded against my ribs,
and I turned my wrist slowly under the light.
There it was,
a microscopic engraving I had stared at in mirrors for twenty years.
EC,
Eleanor covered her mouth with both hands,
sobbing openly.
Twenty-five years ago,
she whispered to the empty air,
our nursery was broken into,
and you were stolen from your crib on a stormy night in November.
We searched every corner of the earth,
and here you are,
May you like
standing in my hotel,
being abused by a worm.
