Chapter 5

The dining room of the McCarthy estate was suffocatingly opulent. Crystal chandeliers cast a harsh, glittering light over the long mahogany table.

Elodie sat near the end of the table. Her stomach was in knots. At the head of the table sat her father, Leland McCarthy. His face was a mask of rigid disapproval. Her stepmother sat quietly beside him, picking at her salad.

The silence was heavy and toxic.

"I hear you're still parading around the city with that penniless coder," Leland said. His voice cut through the quiet like a serrated knife. He didn't even look up from his steak. "You are making a mockery of this family, Elodie."

Elodie's hands trembled in her lap. She was already bleeding from Fletcher's rejection that morning. She had no patience left for her father's tyranny.

"My personal life is none of your business," Elodie snapped. Her voice echoed off the high ceiling. "And he's not a coder. He's a founder."

Leland slammed his silver fork onto his porcelain plate. The loud clatter made the stepmother flinch.

"He is a parasite!" Leland roared.

The stepmother quickly raised her hand, signaling the butler standing in the shadows. "Please, let's just have the wine poured."

The heavy oak doors to the kitchen swung open. A line of catering staff, all dressed in crisp black-and-white uniforms, marched into the room. They carried silver trays and bottles of wine.

A server approached Elodie's right side. The server held a bottle of decanted Lafite.

The server's hands were shaking. As she tilted the bottle, the heavy glass neck collided hard with the rim of Elodie's crystal wine glass. A sharp clink rang out.

Elodie frowned. She turned her head to scold the clumsy server.

The words died in her throat. All the air vanished from her lungs.

It was Dani.

Dani from the startup. Dani, who was wearing a cheap catering uniform, her hair pulled back into a messy bun.

Dani gasped. Her eyes went wide with exaggerated terror. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, ma'am!" she squeaked. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears.

Elodie pushed her chair back. The wooden legs scraped loudly against the marble floor. She stood up. Her heart hammered wildly against her ribs. Her hand flew to her wrist, her thumb grinding against the sharp edges of her diamond bracelet as a sickening realization washed over her.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Elodie demanded. She pointed a shaking finger at Dani's face. "Why are you in my house?"

Dani kept her head bowed. Her shoulders trembled. "I... I work for the catering agency on weekends. I swear I didn't know this was your house, Elodie."

Elodie stared at her. Through the tears, Elodie saw it. A microscopic twitch at the corner of Dani's mouth. A smirk.

Suddenly, Elodie's gaze dropped.

The top button of Dani's uniform was undone. Resting against her collarbone was a necklace. A heavy, antique silver chain holding a massive, teardrop blue sapphire.

Elodie's blood ran freezing cold.

It was her mother's necklace. The one that had disappeared from the vault ten years ago. And right there, on the silver clasp resting against Dani's skin, was the unmistakable engraving: the McCarthy family iris crest.

A blinding rage exploded behind Elodie's eyes.

She lunged forward. Her hand shot out and clamped down hard on Dani's wrist.

"Where did you get this?" Elodie screamed. Her voice tore through her throat. "Take it off! Take it off right now!"

Dani shrieked. She deliberately twisted her arm. The heavy bottle of Lafite slipped from her grasp.

The bottle shattered against the edge of the table. Dark red wine exploded outward. It splashed violently across the front of Elodie's pale silk dress, looking exactly like fresh blood.

Chaos erupted.

Leland shot up from his chair. He didn't look at his daughter's ruined dress. He didn't ask if she was cut by the glass.

"Let her go!" Leland bellowed. His face was purple with rage. He marched around the table.

Elodie stared at her father in disbelief. She kept her grip on Dani, using her other hand to yank the sapphire necklace out from under the uniform collar. She held it up in the harsh chandelier light.

"She stole Mom's necklace!" Elodie screamed. "Look at the crest!"

Leland reached them. He didn't look at the necklace. He grabbed Elodie's forearm and squeezed the bone until she cried out and dropped Dani's wrist.

Leland snatched the necklace from Elodie's fingers. He shoved it into his pocket. His eyes darted around the room, wild with panic.

"It's a cheap replica," Leland hissed. "I gave it to the staff as a bonus. Stop acting like a lunatic."

Elodie froze. She looked at her father's sweating forehead. She looked at his shifting eyes. Then, she looked at Dani.

Dani was rubbing her wrist. She wasn't crying anymore. She was looking right at Elodie, and she was smiling. A cold, victorious, venomous smile.

The puzzle pieces slammed together in Elodie's brain. The physical shock made her knees weak.

"She's not catering," Elodie whispered. The horror in her voice silenced the room. She looked at her father. "She's yours. Isn't she? She's your bastard daughter."

The stepmother gasped, covering her mouth with both hands. The butler quickly waved the remaining staff out of the room.

Leland's face twisted into something monstrous. The exposure of his deepest, ugliest secret shattered his control.

He raised his hand and swung.

The slap sounded like a whip cracking.

The force of the blow threw Elodie's head to the side. She stumbled backward, her hip crashing into the edge of the table. A sharp, metallic taste flooded her mouth. Her cheek burned with a blinding, agonizing heat.

"Get out," Leland roared. Spit flew from his lips. He pointed a trembling finger at the grand double doors. "Get out of my house! You, ungrateful daughter."

Elodie slowly touched her burning cheek. She looked at the man who had raised her. She looked at the smirking girl standing behind him.

She didn't shed a single tear. She straightened her spine. She lifted her chin, her ruined, wine-soaked dress clinging to her legs.

She turned around and walked out the door.