Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN IN THE RED DRESS
Kellen was found two hours later.
He had never left the estate.
The kidnapping had been staged.
A hidden passage beneath the mansion had been opened.
Ronan's oldest security chief, Elias, discovered him in an underground wine cellar.
Kellen was furious.
"I was looking for answers!"
Mirabelle hugged him so hard he couldn't breathe.
"Never do that again."
"But I found something."
He handed Ronan a small envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Ronan stared at it.
Mirabelle looked over his shoulder.
It showed three people.
Her father.
Ronan.
And a woman wearing a red dress.
Mirabelle didn't recognize her.
Ronan did.
"Who is she?"
Ronan's silence answered before his words did.
"Seraphina Vale."
"Who?"
"My former fiancée."
Mirabelle stared.
"You were engaged?"
"Once."
"What happened?"
"She betrayed me."
The photograph was dated eleven years earlier.
Mirabelle noticed something.
Her father was holding a baby.
"Who is that?"
Ronan looked at the photograph.
His face changed.
"I don't know."
Kellen pointed.
"Look at the bracelet."
Mirabelle zoomed in.
The baby wore a tiny silver bracelet.
Engraved on it were two letters.
M.H.
Mirabelle stopped breathing.
"M.H."
"Your initials," Kellen whispered.
Ronan took the photograph.
"Impossible."
"Why?"
"Because you weren't born eleven years ago."
Mirabelle stared at him.
"I was twenty-one."
Ronan's eyes met hers.
"Exactly."
Silence.
Then Elias entered.
"Mr. Voss."
Ronan turned.
"We found Seraphina."
"Where?"
"Blackhaven."
Mirabelle stood.
"Alive?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
Elias hesitated.
"At a charity gala."
That night, Ronan brought Mirabelle to the gala.
She wore a black dress from his private wardrobe.
When she entered the ballroom beside him, conversation stopped.
Then Seraphina appeared.
Red dress.
Diamond earrings.
Perfect smile.
She walked straight toward Ronan.
"Hello, darling."
Mirabelle felt Ronan's hand tighten around hers.
Seraphina smiled at Mirabelle.
"So this is her."
Ronan's voice was cold.
"Don't."
Seraphina laughed softly.
"You never told her?"
"Told me what?" Mirabelle asked.
Seraphina leaned closer.
"That Ronan was the reason your father disappeared."
Mirabelle's heart stopped.
She looked at Ronan.
"Is that true?"
Ronan didn't answer.
Seraphina smiled.
"Ask him where he was the night Daniel Hayes died."
Mirabelle pulled her hand away.
Ronan caught it.
"Don't listen to her."
"Then tell me."
He stared at her.
"I was there."
The room seemed to spin.
"You were there?"
"Yes."
"And you never told me?"
"I was protecting you."
"From what?"
Ronan's jaw tightened.
"From the truth."
Before Mirabelle could respond, a gunshot exploded across the ballroom.
Seraphina fell.
The lights went out.
People screamed.
May you like
And when the emergency lights came on—
Seraphina was gone.
