Chapter 3

Bryce smirked. "Fifty thousand, going once..."

Chloe stepped forward. Her voice, when she spoke, was surprisingly clear, though it trembled.

"I don't have that kind of money, Bryce. You know I don't."

Liv let out a tinkling laugh. "Oh, sweetie. That's the point. But surely you have *something* of value? A little trinket? Daddy says even the poor have their baubles."

The crowd chuckled. Men in bespoke suits, women dripping in jewels, all enjoying the degradation of a young woman who clearly didn't belong in their gilded cage.

Chloe's hand went to her wrist. She fumbled with a clasp.

When she held it out, it looked like a simple silver chain with a few tarnished charms.

"This," she said, her voice cracking. "My sister gave this to me. For my eighteenth birthday."

I recognized it. A custom-made Van Cleef & Arpels lucky charm bracelet, each charm representing a milestone. It wasn't ostentatious, but its value was easily six figures. I'd picked it out myself in Paris.

Bryce scoffed. "Seriously, Chloe? That junk? What's it worth, fifty bucks at a pawn shop?"

Liv peered at it. "How... quaint. Is that real silver, or did it come out of a gumball machine?"

Chloe's face flushed. She looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her.

"I'll take it as collateral," she whispered, her eyes fixed on the floor. "For the first... piece."

The club manager, a portly man named Henderson who'd known my grandparents, had been hovering nervously. He stepped forward.

"May I, Miss Jenkins?"

Chloe mutely handed him the bracelet. Henderson, to his credit, handled it with surprising care. He pulled a jeweler's loupe from his pocket, examined the tiny signature clasp, then each charm.

His eyebrows shot up. He looked from the bracelet to Chloe, then to me, a flicker of recognition in his eyes as he glanced towards my darkened viewing box. I gave a minuscule nod.

Henderson cleared his throat. "This... this bracelet, Mr. Campbell, is a significant piece. Its value far exceeds your initial asking price for the first... item."

Bryce looked stunned. Liv's jaw dropped.

"What? That piece of trash?" Bryce stammered.

"It is sufficient," Henderson said firmly, handing the bracelet back to a bewildered Chloe. "The first video is... secured by Miss Jenkins."