Chapter 6 - The Secret Inside the Bird
Mia grabbed the pendant from Claire’s hand.
Claire slapped her.
The sound woke Harper.
The child sat up crying.
Mia moved immediately between them.
“Get out.”
Claire stared at the red mark on Mia’s cheek.
“You forget your position.”
“My position does not give you permission to enter my room or touch me.”
“When I marry Dominic, I can remove you from this estate.”
“Then wait until the wedding.”
Claire’s face tightened.
The wedding was not a certainty.
Not while Mia possessed the pendant.
After Claire left, Mia locked the door and examined the silver bird.
A narrow seam ran beneath one wing.
Lucas had once repaired watches as a hobby. He loved hidden mechanisms.
Mia used a sewing needle to press the bird’s eye.
The wing opened.
Inside was a tiny brass key and a folded strip of paper.
H-314.
The number matched a row in the estate’s old archive room.
Mia waited until dawn.
She left Harper with the cook and entered the basement archive.
Cabinet H contained security records from six years earlier.
Drawer 314 was locked.
The brass key opened it.
Inside was a small memory card and a handwritten note from Lucas.
Mia,
If you find this, I failed to leave safely.
Nathan is moving money without Dominic’s knowledge. Someone inside the estate is helping him. The proof is on this card.
Do not trust anyone who asks for the bird.
Mia pressed the note against her mouth.
For six years, she had blamed herself for not recognizing Lucas’s fear.
Now his last message rested in her hand.
Footsteps entered the archive corridor.
Mia hid the card inside her shoe.
Nathan appeared at the door.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for winter inventory records.”
“In a locked cabinet?”
Mia held up the small key.
“I found this inside an old supply box.”
Nathan’s attention moved to the pendant.
He knew.
Mia ran.
She reached the main hallway before he caught her arm.
Dominic’s security chief appeared at the far end.
Nathan released her and smiled.
“Mrs. Bennett nearly fell.”
Mia looked at the security chief.
For a moment, she considered telling him everything.
Then she remembered Lucas’s warning.
Someone inside the estate was helping Nathan.
She could not know whom to trust.
Dominic was leaving for Atlantic City that afternoon.
Mia decided she would place the memory card directly into his hand before he left.
May you like
Claire made sure she never reached him.
👉 Nathan knew Mia had opened the pendant, so Claire moved their plan forward and ordered the wine cellar prepared that same night.
