Chapter 9 - The Wrong Diamond
Victoria stared at the jeweler’s report.
“That is impossible.”
The bracelet had been repaired after a charity gala three years earlier.
The seventh charm—the one matching the diamond found in the brake—was never replaced.
Victoria had worn an empty setting ever since.
Guests confirmed it.
Photographs confirmed it.
The diamond inside the wheelchair could not have fallen from her bracelet that evening.
Someone had kept the missing charm for three years.
Then placed it in the brake to frame Victoria.
Leah looked toward Ethan.
The accusation had changed direction.
Victoria was still responsible for the transfer.
The incapacity clause.
The housing sale.
The threat to remove Leah.
But perhaps not the sabotage.
Mrs. Harrington asked:
“Who had the charm?”
The jeweler produced the repair record.
The loose diamond had been returned to a Harrington family representative.
The signature belonged to Ethan.
He stared at the page.
“I don’t remember collecting it.”
Victoria looked almost relieved.
“You put it in the chair.”
“No.”
“You knew exactly how it would look.”
Ethan’s face hardened.
“I was on the staircase when the chair moved.”
“But you could have arranged it earlier.”
Leah looked at him carefully.
For the first time, she understood why Ethan arrived at the perfect moment.
Why he descended while the guests watched.
Why the charm immediately turned Victoria into the obvious villain.
Then the mansion’s archived hallway footage was restored.
It showed Ethan entering the wheelchair storage room that afternoon.
May you like
Alone.
Holding a small velvet jewelry pouch.
