Chapter 4
Julian didn’t wait for Eleanor to reach the bottom of the landing. He grabbed Grace by the elbow, pulling her hard toward the arched double doors of the library before Eleanor could close the distance. The heavy oak doors swung shut behind them with a muffled thud, and Julian immediately engaged the deadbolt, sliding a heavy bronze latch into place.
The library was dim, illuminated only by the faint amber glow of a single desk lamp filtering through tall, dust-motes-filled windows. The smell of old paper, leather bindings, and polished mahogany hung heavy in the air. Grace set the golden retriever down on a plush Persian rug, where the puppy immediately began to shake off the remaining water, its tail giving a tentative, hopeful wag.
“She won’t break that door down easily, but we don’t have much time,” Julian said, walking briskly toward the far corner of the room. He pressed his palm against a carved mahogany panel beside the fireplace; with a soft mechanical click, the section of the wall swung inward, revealing a hidden alcove.
Grace knelt beside the puppy, stroking its soft head to keep it calm. Her heart hammered against her ribs, but the sheer adrenaline of survival kept the panic at bay. “Mr. Vance, what is in there?”
“Everything,” Julian answered from within the dark alcove. The sound of rustling papers and metal drawers echoed out to the room. “Every transaction, every communication, every hidden asset Eleanor used to siphon funds from my construction firm over the last five years. I thought she was just an unfulfilled socialite. I didn’t know she was systematically framing me for corporate embezzlement.”
A sharp, metallic rap echoed against the library doors. Then came Eleanor’s voice, chillingly calm, speaking through the thick oak.
“Julian, darling, open this door. You’re making a terrible mistake. That girl is manipulating you. She’s a thief; she stole jewelry from the master bedroom two weeks ago. I have the security footage right here on my phone.”
Julian stepped out of the alcove, his hands full of heavy manila folders and a sleek black encrypted hard drive. His face was pale, his lips pressed into a thin, hard line.
“She’s lying,” Julian said quietly, looking directly at Grace. “She planted those earrings in your locker yesterday, didn’t she?”
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Grace stared at him, her eyes widening in disbelief and validation. “How did you—?”
“Because she did the exact same thing to my last business partner before he resigned under a cloud of scandal,” Julian said bitterly, tossing the files onto the mahogany desk.
