Chapter 3 - The Woman Who Was Supposed to Be DeadWilliam didn't believe Ethan at first.
“What did you say?”
Isabella's composure returned almost instantly.
It was frightening to watch.
One second she had been pale and shaken. The next she straightened her shoulders, smoothed the front of her black gown, and became the elegant hostess whose photograph appeared beside William's in charity magazines.
“I said she shouldn't be up here.”
“No,” I said. “You said I shouldn't have found the photograph.”
Her eyes flicked toward me.
“Grace, isn't it?”
The way she said my name made it sound like a warning.
William took the photograph from my hand.
The moment he saw the woman holding the baby, something changed in his face.
“Anna.”
Isabella closed her eyes briefly.
I didn't know who Anna was, but William clearly did.
Ethan tightened his arms around his father's neck.
“Daddy, can we go downstairs?”
“Yes.”
William's voice softened instantly.
“Of course.”
Then he looked at me.
“Come with us.”
Isabella stepped between us.
“William, you have three hundred guests downstairs.”
“They can go home.”
“You're hosting the Hartwell Foundation.”
“I don't care.”
“William—”
“My son was locked inside a wall.”
His voice wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
“Everyone leaves.”
Within ten minutes, the Sterling mansion transformed from glittering celebration to controlled evacuation.
Security guards quietly told guests there was a family emergency. Musicians packed instruments. Caterers wheeled untouched desserts back toward the service elevators.
I should have left with them.
Instead, William Sterling asked me to stay.
That was how I ended up sitting in a library worth more than the apartment building where I lived.
Ethan sat beneath a blanket on a leather sofa while a private doctor examined him.
Dr. Marcus Reed looked furious by the time he finished.
“Dehydrated,” he said. “Mild hypoglycemia. Bruising around both wrists.”
William's head snapped up.
“Bruising?”
Dr. Reed gently lifted Ethan's sleeves.
Purple marks circled both wrists.
I felt sick.
William looked at his son.
“Who did this?”
Ethan immediately looked at Isabella.
Everyone in the room followed his gaze.
Isabella stood near the fireplace.
“This is absurd.”
William's voice lowered.
“Leave.”
“What?”
“Leave the room.”
“I am your wife.”
“You are also the woman my son says locked him behind a wall.”
“I never touched him.”
Ethan whispered, “You held me.”
Isabella's jaw tightened.
“He was having one of his episodes.”
“What episode?” William demanded.
“He was screaming.”
“Because you were putting him in a wall!”
“No. He started screaming before that.”
Ethan's lower lip trembled.
“Because I saw the man.”
Silence.
William crouched beside him.
“What man?”
“The blue-ring man.”
I felt every hair on my arms rise.
Isabella's face became completely still.
William noticed.
“So that's what this is about.”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
“Yes, you do.”
William turned back to Ethan.
“What did the man do?”
“He gave Isabella papers.”
“What kind of papers?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you hear what they said?”
Ethan nodded.
Isabella stepped forward.
“Stop questioning him.”
William rounded on her.
“You're worried about upsetting him now?”
“You're confusing a five-year-old.”
“He remembers more than you hoped.”
Isabella's expression sharpened.
“You should be careful, William.”
That sentence didn't sound like something a frightened wife said to her husband.
It sounded like a threat.
William stood.
“Security.”
Two men entered.
“Take Mrs. Sterling to the west guest suite. She doesn't leave until the police arrive.”
Isabella laughed.
“You're imprisoning me?”
“No. I'm asking my employees to make sure you don't destroy evidence.”
Her eyes flashed.
“You don't know what evidence looks like.”
She looked directly at me.
“But apparently the waitress does.”
Security escorted her away.
The room remained silent until the doors closed.
William returned his attention to the photograph.
“Who is she?” I asked quietly.
His thumb moved across the woman's face.
“Anna Bell.”
He swallowed.
“My first wife.”
I glanced at Ethan.
“I thought Isabella was—”
“My second wife.”
He turned the picture over.
HE KNOWS TOO MUCH.
“Anna died six years ago.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
His voice became distant.
“She was eight months pregnant.”
I stared at the photograph.
“But she's holding a baby here.”
William looked at me.
“That baby isn't Ethan.”
My stomach dropped.
“Then who?”
“I don't know.”
Dr. Reed interrupted gently.
“William, Ethan should be in a hospital.”
William nodded.
“I'll take him.”
“No.”
Everyone looked at Ethan.
He clung to his father.
“The blue-ring man knows the hospital.”
William went still.
I crouched several feet away.
“Ethan, what does his ring look like?”
He looked at me because, for reasons I didn't understand, he trusted me.
“Blue stone. Big.”
“Did he say his name?”
Ethan shook his head.
“What did he tell Isabella?”
His face tightened.
“She said I wasn't supposed to hear.”
“What did you hear?”
He whispered four words.
“The other boy is alive.”
William's hand closed around the photograph.
“What other boy?”
Ethan began crying.
“I don't know.”
William immediately stopped questioning him.
“It's okay.”
But I couldn't stop thinking about the hidden room.
The photograph.
The dead first wife.
The unknown baby.
The mysterious man.
And Isabella's fear.
Police arrived twenty minutes later.
Detective Laura Kane took statements from everyone.
When she heard about the hidden room, her expression hardened.
“You're telling me your wife locked your son in a concealed chamber because he overheard a conversation?”
William said, “That's what we're trying to determine.”
Kane looked toward me.
“And you're the one who found him?”
“Yes.”
“Why were you upstairs?”
“Delivering champagne.”
“To whom?”
“The private lounge.”
“Did anyone send you specifically?”
I thought about it.
My catering supervisor, Melanie, had handed me the tray.
Take this upstairs.
West gallery.
Private lounge.
Except there hadn't been anyone in the lounge.
“I was sent there.”
Detective Kane's pen stopped moving.
“By who?”
“My supervisor.”
“Where is she?”
I looked around.
Melanie should have been downstairs overseeing cleanup.
“I don't know.”
Detective Kane immediately spoke into her radio.
Five minutes later, security reported that Melanie had vanished.
Her car was still in the staff lot.
Her purse was in the kitchen.
Her coat was in the employee room.
But she was gone.
Then one of the officers entered carrying a clear evidence bag.
“We found this in the service corridor.”
Inside was a brass key.
Just like Isabella's.
Detective Kane looked at William.
“Where does this lead?”
William shook his head.
“I've never seen it before.”
Ethan whispered from the sofa.
“I have.”
We turned.
He pointed toward the photograph of Anna Bell.
“Mommy had one.”
William froze.
“Your mother?”
Ethan shook his head.
“The lady in the picture.”
Everyone stared at him.
“You've seen Anna?” William asked.
Ethan nodded.
“When?”
May you like
The little boy answered with words that made his father grip the edge of the sofa.
“Yesterday.”
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