Chapter 5 - The Broken Engagement
Dominic ended the engagement that night.
No shouting.
No dramatic scene.
He simply removed the ring from Valerie's finger and placed it on the table.
“We're finished.”
Valerie stared at him.
“You can't do this.”
“I just did.”
“My father built half your alliances.”
“Your father is dead.”
“My family still controls—”
“Nothing.”
Her face twisted.
“You'll regret humiliating me.”
Dominic's voice was cold.
“I regret trusting you.”
Valerie slapped him.
Nobody moved.
Dominic didn't react.
Valerie's hand trembled.
“You'll come back.”
“No.”
“You love me.”
“No.”
That answer broke something in her.
“You never loved anyone.”
Dominic looked away.
“Maybe.”
Outside, Norah stood near the garden.
She had been brought there because Dominic wanted her somewhere protected.
She didn't know the engagement was ending.
When Dominic walked outside, she immediately noticed the missing ring.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“You don't look all right.”
“I've been worse.”
Norah hesitated.
“Did she tell you anything?”
“Enough.”
“What happens now?”
“Now we find your mother's ledger.”
Norah looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because whoever wants you dead is looking for it.”
“But I don't have it.”
“I know.”
“Then what do they think I have?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Maybe they believe your mother hid it before she disappeared.”
“My mother didn't disappear.”
“You're right.”
Norah's heart stopped.
“What?”
Dominic handed her a file.
“Your mother didn't leave Chicago willingly.”
Norah opened it.
Inside was an old missing-person report.
Her mother's name.
Her age.
Her photograph.
Then a handwritten note:
Case closed. Possible voluntary disappearance.
Norah's hands shook.
“She wouldn't leave me.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because she left something else.”
He handed her a small cassette tape.
Norah stared.
“What is this?”
“Found in the wall of 918 Wabash.”
They found an old tape player.
Dominic pressed play.
Static.
Then a woman's voice.
Norah stopped breathing.
Her mother's voice.
“If you're hearing this, something happened to me.”
Norah covered her mouth.
“Norah, if you're alive, listen carefully.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Never trust the Whitmores.”
The recording crackled.
Then:
“Especially the daughter.”
Valerie.
Norah looked at Dominic.
The recording continued.
“The Mercer family is not your enemy. One Mercer is.”
The tape abruptly stopped.
Dominic stared at the machine.
Norah whispered:
“Which one?”
Before he could answer, his phone rang.
He listened.
Then his face changed.
“What?”
A pause.
“Where?”
He hung up.
Norah stood.
“What happened?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Your apartment.”
“What about it?”
“Someone broke in.”
“Did they find anything?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Dominic's voice was barely audible.
“A photograph of your mother.”
May you like
He paused.
“Taken yesterday.”
