Chapter 3 - The Blue Room's Echo
The next morning, Harper’s hands were still shaking as she handed the school fee money to Willa.
"Are you okay, Harps?" Willa asked, packing her backpack. "You look like you saw a ghost last night."
"Just a long shift," Harper lied, forcing a smile. "Go on, get to school. Don't worry about anything."
Once Willa left, Harper pulled out an old, battered shoebox from under her bed. It contained the few items her mother had left behind before she died of a sudden, aggressive illness when Harper was sixteen. Among old recipes, faded photographs, and a broken wristwatch, Harper found her mother's old diary from two decades ago.
She flipped through the pages, her eyes scanning the neat, cursive handwriting. Most of it was mundane—complaints about sore feet, budgeting for groceries, and notes about Harper as a toddler. But then she found the entries from twenty years prior, during the months her mother worked at the Mercer estate.
October 14th: Mr. Daniel Mercer is a kind man, very different from his brother and brother-in-law. But there is a darkness in that house. I found papers in the study today while dusting. They aren't running shipping lines. They're running something much worse. I think Graham knows I saw them.
October 22nd: They are blaming Daniel. A setup. They think he stole from the family fund, but it was Graham. I have to protect myself. I took the ledger. If they find it on me, I’m dead. I hid it in the one place they never look—the old guest suite. The Blue Room. Behind the false paneling near the fireplace. God forgive me if they find out.
October 24th: They found a missing necklace in my bag today. I know Graham put it there. They fired me, threatened my life, told me if I ever spoke to the police, Harper would pay for it. I have to stay quiet. The truth stays in the Blue Room.
Harper dropped the diary, her heart hammering against her ribs. Her mother hadn't been crazy. Vivian Mercer wasn't crazy.
Daniel Mercer, Callum's father, hadn't betrayed the family business. He had been murdered or framed by his own brother, Graham, and Rose Dunn had hidden the evidence that could prove it.
May you like
Suddenly, a heavy knock rattled her apartment door.
Harper froze. She crept toward the door and looked through the peephole. Standing in the dim hallway, wearing a heavy wool coat with his collar turned up against the cold, was Callum Mercer.
