CHAPTER 5 — THE SHADOW IN THE LIBRARY
CHAPTER 5 — THE SHADOW IN THE LIBRARY
The library door clicked shut.
The sound was soft.
Too soft for anyone outside to notice.
Ivy looked up from the photograph, still hugging it against her little chest.
"Hello?"
No answer.
The figure remained in the shadows near the door.
Tall.
Perfectly still.
Only after a long moment did he step into the light.
It was Victor Hale.
Julian Hartwell's longtime chief of security.
He had worked for the Hartwell family for nearly thirty years.
To everyone in the house, Victor was dependable.
Invisible.
The man who solved problems before anyone knew they existed.
He smiled politely.
"You shouldn't be in here, sweetheart."
Ivy smiled back without fear.
"I found Mommy."
Victor's smile faded.
"What did you say?"
She held up the framed photograph.
"My mommy."
Victor stared at the picture.
His face lost every trace of color.
That photograph...
He had destroyed every copy.
Or so he had believed.
Slowly, he walked toward her.
"May I see it?"
Ivy hugged it tighter.
"No."
"It's fragile."
"My mommy says sharing is nice."
Victor crouched, forcing another smile.
"She's right."
The little girl tilted her head.
"But she also says never give Birdie to strangers."
Victor's eyes drifted to the silver hummingbird charm hanging from Ivy's tiny necklace.
His heartbeat stumbled.
Impossible.
He knew that charm.
He remembered throwing it into a cardboard box more than twenty years ago.
It should never have survived.
Outside the library, Mara suddenly realized Ivy was gone.
"Ivy?"
No answer.
Panic spread through her chest.
She searched the servants' hallway.
The kitchen.
The laundry room.
Nothing.
"Has anyone seen my daughter?"
Mrs. Dalton, the housekeeper, pointed toward the west wing.
"I thought she followed Mr. Hale."
Mara's blood ran cold.
Meanwhile...
Julian sat in his study reading another unopened letter.
Each page hurt more than the last.
One sentence refused to leave his mind.
"If our baby has your smile, I'll consider myself the luckiest woman alive."
A knock interrupted him.
Daniel entered, carrying a thin folder.
"I found something."
Julian stood immediately.
"What?"
"I checked archived employment records."
"And?"
Daniel opened the file.
"Twenty-one years ago..."
"...someone requested all visitor logs connected to Miss Mara Ellis."
Julian frowned.
"Who?"
Daniel turned the page.
The signature stared back at them.
Victor Hale.
Julian looked up slowly.
"My security chief?"
"It appears so."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"But that's not all."
Daniel produced another document.
"This authorization allowed Mr. Hale to intercept all mail addressed to you while you were overseas negotiating the Dawson merger."
Julian felt the room tilt.
"He had access to my personal mail?"
"According to these records..."
"...yes."
A scream echoed through the mansion.
"MOMMY!"
Julian and Daniel looked toward the hallway.
"Ivy."
Both men ran.
Inside the library...
Victor reached for the photograph.
Ivy backed away.
"No!"
The chair beneath her shifted.
She slipped.
The heavy frame flew from her hands.
Glass exploded across the hardwood floor.
Victor lunged.
Not toward Ivy.
Toward the photograph.
Mara burst through the door at the same instant.
"Ivy!"
She grabbed her daughter seconds before she hit the floor.
Julian arrived moments later.
"What happened?"
No one answered.
His eyes fell upon the broken frame.
The photograph lay exposed.
Whole.
Uncropped.
Young Julian.
Young Mara.
Standing together.
His father beside them.
Julian froze.
His father?
He picked up the damaged picture.
On the back was a handwritten note.
Hartwell Foundation Scholarship Dinner.
Congratulations to our future daughter-in-law.
Signed...
Edward Hartwell.
Julian's father.
His hands began shaking.
"My father..."
He looked at Mara.
"He knew."
Tears filled her eyes.
"Yes."
"You met him?"
"He loved me."
Julian whispered,
"Then why would he let us be separated?"
Victor suddenly interrupted.
"Perhaps Mr. Hartwell should hear the whole story."
Every eye turned.
Victor had stopped pretending.
May you like
His calm mask was gone.
"I've kept this secret long enough."
