Chapter 6: The Brooch
Isabella returned to the Bellamy Grand the next morning.
No announcement had been made, yet every employee seemed to know.
The lobby became quiet when she entered.
Some looked ashamed.
Others looked relieved.
Adrian Mercer approached her near the reception desk.
In his hands was a small velvet box.
“We recovered this from Ms. Laurent.”
Isabella opened it.
The sapphire brooch rested inside.
For a moment, she was ten years old again, sitting at her mother’s dressing table while sunlight filled their home.
Her mother, Genevieve, had fastened the brooch to Isabella’s dress and said, “Jewelry has no value unless it carries a story worth remembering.”
Genevieve had died when Isabella was twenty-three.
Marcus knew what the brooch meant.
That was why giving it to Celeste had been more painful than the affair itself.
He had not simply betrayed Isabella.
He had deliberately taken something sacred and used it to prove she had no power.
Adrian cleared his throat.
“I should have refused his order.”
“You followed the chain of command.”
“I knew it was wrong.”
Isabella closed the box.
“Then remember that feeling the next time someone powerful gives you an order.”
He nodded.
“I will.”
Isabella looked around the lobby.
Housekeepers, bell attendants, desk agents, and managers stood nearby pretending to work.
She raised her voice.
“No employee will be punished for what happened last night. But from this day forward, company security will never be used to intimidate a spouse, guest, or employee. Authority does not excuse cruelty.”
A few people nodded.
One housekeeper began to cry quietly.
Isabella later learned Marcus had threatened to fire her for reporting Celeste’s unauthorized stays.
By noon, Isabella had received twenty-three similar complaints.
The affair was only the beginning.
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Marcus’s downfall had opened a door.
Behind it waited years of fear.
