Chapter 2 – The Party of Liars
The ballroom fell into complete silence.
Every guest turned toward the elderly man standing in the mansion's entrance.
He wasn't surrounded by bodyguards.
He didn't need them.
His reputation alone was enough to silence a room full of billionaires.
Silver-haired, impeccably dressed in a tailored charcoal suit, he carried himself with quiet authority. His cane tapped once against the marble floor—not because he needed it, but because every step commanded attention.
Nathan Hawthorne's face drained of color.
"No..." he whispered.
"It can't be..."
Vanessa looked from Nathan to the old man in confusion.
"Who is he?"
Nathan didn't answer.
He couldn't.
Because he knew exactly who had just walked into the mansion.
Richard Sterling.
Founder of Sterling Global Holdings.
One of the wealthiest businessmen in America.
A man who had disappeared from public life nearly five years earlier after handing control of his companies to a private trust.
A man the media rarely photographed anymore.
A man everyone assumed had retired.
Only Amelia knew the truth.
He hadn't retired.
He had been quietly preparing someone to inherit everything.
Her.
Richard's eyes softened the moment they met Amelia's.
"My dear girl..."
His voice trembled slightly.
"I'm sorry I arrived too late."
Tears slipped down Amelia's cheeks.
"You came."
"I promised your mother I always would."
The words echoed through the room.
Nathan froze.
Your mother?
Vanessa frowned.
"What is he talking about?"
Nathan slowly looked at Amelia as though seeing her for the first time.
"You... never told me..."
Amelia gave him a bitter smile.
"You never asked."
Paramedics carefully lifted Amelia onto a stretcher.
She grabbed Detective Carter's wrist before they moved her.
"The pendant."
"It's still recording."
Carter nodded.
"I know."
"I'll keep it with me."
"And Amelia..."
He leaned closer.
"You did well."
As the paramedics wheeled her toward the ambulance, Richard walked beside her.
"I'm staying."
She shook her head.
"No."
"They'll try to destroy evidence."
Richard looked toward Carter.
"I assume you've prepared."
The detective smiled faintly.
"For months."
Nathan finally found his voice.
"This is ridiculous."
"My wife slipped."
"It was an accident."
Detective Carter turned around slowly.
"An accident?"
"Is that your official statement?"
Nathan crossed his arms.
"Yes."
Vanessa stepped beside him.
"Everyone saw it."
"She lost her balance."
Several guests nodded nervously.
No one wanted trouble.
One businessman cleared his throat.
"I... believe she slipped."
Another woman quickly agreed.
"Yes."
"I didn't see anyone touch her."
The detective wrote something inside his notebook.
"Interesting."
He looked toward a young officer.
"Please record every statement."
Then he smiled.
"We'll compare them with the video."
Nathan's confidence faltered.
"What video?"
Carter looked up at the ceiling.
Every guest instinctively followed his gaze.
Tiny black security cameras.
Almost invisible among the carved wooden beams.
"There are twenty-six cameras in this mansion."
Nathan forced a laugh.
"They haven't worked in years."
Before Carter could answer, Richard Sterling spoke.
"They've worked perfectly."
Nathan slowly turned.
Richard removed a small key from his pocket.
"I paid for the security system."
"I also paid for its maintenance."
"And unlike you..."
"I never canceled the cloud backup."
Vanessa's eyes widened.
Cloud backup?
Nathan suddenly grabbed his attorney.
"Where's Marcus?"
"Tell him to erase everything!"
A calm voice answered behind him.
"I'm afraid that's impossible."
Everyone turned.
A woman in a navy FBI-style jacket walked inside carrying a laptop.
"Digital Forensics."
She handed Carter a tablet.
"The cloud server has already been secured."
"No files have been altered."
Nathan stared at the screen in disbelief.
"No..."
"No..."
Meanwhile...
The guests were no longer whispering.
They were panicking.
Phones appeared everywhere.
"I'm leaving."
"I have an early flight."
"This has nothing to do with me."
An officer blocked the front doors.
"I'm sorry."
"No one leaves."
One elderly senator frowned.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Yes."
"That's why you're staying."
Another guest attempted to exit through the garden.
More officers stopped him.
Within minutes every entrance had been sealed.
Outside...
Yellow crime scene tape surrounded the mansion.
News helicopters began circling overhead.
Someone had leaked the story.
Live television vans arrived.
Reporters gathered behind police barricades.
"The Hawthorne Estate has become the center of a major criminal investigation..."
"The victim is believed to be seven months pregnant..."
"There are reports of attempted murder..."
Nathan looked through the windows.
His empire was collapsing before his eyes.
Inside the library...
Detective Carter assembled a temporary command center.
Photographs of the staircase covered one wall.
Floor plans covered another.
The pendant recorder lay inside an evidence bag.
Beside it sat Amelia's anonymous message.
Don't drink the champagne.
Carter turned toward his forensic team.
"Timeline."
A young investigator stepped forward.
"At 8:14 p.m., Amelia receives the anonymous warning."
"At 8:27, she enters Nathan's office."
"At 8:34, witnesses hear shouting upstairs."
"At 8:36..."
He paused.
"...she falls."
Carter nodded.
"Cause?"
"We don't know yet."
"But we recovered this."
He placed a broken bracelet onto the table.
Green emerald stones.
Vanessa's bracelet.
One stone carried traces of fresh blood.
Vanessa sat alone in the drawing room while another detective questioned her.
"I didn't push her."
"You argued."
"Yes."
"You threatened her."
"I was angry."
"You chased her upstairs."
Vanessa hesitated.
"For a moment."
"And then?"
"I stopped."
The detective wrote silently.
"Several witnesses disagree."
"They're lying."
The detective closed the folder.
"We'll see."
As he left, Vanessa reached into her purse.
Her phone was gone.
Confiscated.
She looked toward the window.
Two armed officers stood outside.
For the first time all evening...
Fear settled in.
Across the mansion...
Nathan faced Detective Carter alone.
"I want my lawyer."
"You'll have one."
Nathan leaned forward.
"You have nothing."
"No fingerprints."
"No confession."
"No witnesses."
"You can't prove murder."
Carter remained surprisingly calm.
"Maybe."
He opened another folder.
"Can you explain these?"
Nathan looked down.
Insurance policies.
Three of them.
Each recently updated.
Each naming Nathan as sole beneficiary.
Combined value...
Thirty-two million dollars.
Nathan swallowed.
"My financial advisor—"
"Recommended increasing coverage?"
Nathan nodded.
Carter placed another document on the table.
Property transfer forms.
Prepared three weeks earlier.
Signed by Nathan.
Unsigned by Amelia.
Another document.
Custody papers.
Then another.
An emergency board resolution appointing Nathan temporary trustee...
In the event of Amelia's death.
Nathan's hands began shaking.
"This proves nothing."
Carter smiled.
"It proves motive."
Near midnight...
The forensic team finally finished examining the staircase.
Their lead investigator approached Carter carrying a sealed evidence bag.
"What did you find?"
She carefully removed a tiny object.
A clear fishing line.
Almost invisible.
Strong enough to trip someone running downstairs.
One end still carried fragments of polished wood.
The other...
Tiny traces of emerald fabric.
Carter looked toward the second floor.
"Photograph everything."
"Immediately."
Another investigator hurried toward them.
"We found fingerprints."
"On the balcony railing."
"Whose?"
"Vanessa Crawford."
"And one more set."
"Who?"
The investigator hesitated.
"Nathan Hawthorne."
Carter looked back toward the staircase.
The pieces were beginning to fit together.
But something still bothered him.
Someone had warned Amelia.
Someone inside the mansion had secretly helped her.
Someone knew the murder was coming.
The anonymous message hadn't appeared by magic.
There was another player hidden among the guests.
Someone pretending to be innocent.
Someone who had not yet made a mistake.
Carter slowly looked across the ballroom.
Nearly one hundred frightened faces stared back at him.
One of them...
Was lying.
And before dawn...
May you like
That liar would make a fatal mistake.
End of Chapter 2
