Chapter 2 - The Woman They Called Unstable
The officer hesitated.
Charlotte did not.
“Before you touch me, ask him what crime I committed.”
Richard continued down the staircase.
“You broke into private corporate offices yesterday.”
Charlotte stared at him.
“I arrived in New York yesterday.”
Richard smiled.
“You see?”
He turned toward the officer.
“This is exactly what I warned you about.”
Celeste remained silent now.
Her earlier confidence had vanished completely.
Richard reached the bottom of the staircase.
His expression softened.
It was the same expression he had used at Charlotte’s mother’s funeral.
Gentle.
Concerned.
False.
“Charlotte, you need help.”
“Interesting.”
Charlotte folded her arms.
“Because I was about to say the same thing about you.”
Grant Holloway stepped closer.
“Mr. Vale, Miss Vale has every legal right to enter this property.”
Richard looked at him sharply.
“Not anymore.”
The words changed the room.
Charlotte narrowed her eyes.
Richard removed a folded document from inside his jacket.
“Six months before Eleanor died, she transferred controlling authority over Charlotte’s shares into the Vale Protection Trust.”
Charlotte’s stomach tightened.
“No.”
Richard handed the document to the officer.
“The trust allows me to restrict Charlotte’s access to company properties if her psychological condition becomes unstable.”
Charlotte stared at the signature.
It looked exactly like her mother’s.
Almost.
Richard watched her carefully.
“You disappeared for eleven months.”
“My mother died.”
“You refused calls from the board.”
“Because every call came through your office.”
“You abandoned your responsibilities.”
“I was grieving.”
Richard lowered his voice.
“And you were hospitalized.”
Charlotte froze.
That information was private.
Only three people knew.
Her doctor.
Her attorney.
And Richard.
The hospitalization had lasted four days after Charlotte collapsed from exhaustion and grief.
Richard had transformed four days of medical care into evidence of mental instability.
Charlotte suddenly understood the shape of the trap.
They had never merely planned to steal her shares.
They had planned to destroy her credibility first.
Richard stepped closer.
“Go home.”
“This is my home.”
“No.”
His eyes hardened.
“It was your mother’s.”
Charlotte reached into her pocket.
She removed the gold watch she had received in the anonymous package.
Richard’s expression changed.
Only for half a second.
But Charlotte saw it.
His eyes locked on the watch.
Fear.
Real fear.
Charlotte opened the cover.
Inside was a tiny photograph of Eleanor holding Charlotte as a baby.
Richard whispered.
“Where did you get that?”
Charlotte smiled for the first time.
“You tell me.”
The officer looked between them.
Richard extended his hand.
“Give me the watch.”
“No.”
“That belongs to the family.”
“I am the family.”
Richard’s jaw tightened.
Then Charlotte noticed something engraved inside the watch.
She had seen it before but assumed it was a serial number.
1901.
Grant saw it too.
His face changed.
“What?”
Charlotte asked.
Grant looked toward Richard.
Then back at her.
“There is no room 1901.”
Richard interrupted immediately.
“Grant.”
But the manager had already understood.
He lowered his voice.
“Not anymore.”
Charlotte stepped closer.
“What used to be there?”
Grant hesitated.
“Your mother’s private office.”
Richard’s composure shattered.
“Enough.”
Charlotte looked toward the elevators.
The brass key suddenly felt heavier in her pocket.
Room 1901 had been removed from every public hotel directory twelve years earlier.
May you like
Yet someone had just sent Charlotte the key.
And Richard Vale was terrified she would use it.
