Chapter 2 - The Photograph That Knew More About Maggie Than She DidMaggie barely remembered leaving the ballroom.
Dominic had moved her through a private corridor behind the banquet hall, his security team surrounding them.
She hated every second.
Not because they were protecting her.
Because nobody would tell her from what.
“I need to go back.”
“No.”
“My friends are there.”
“They're safe.”
“Nora looked terrified.”
“She is.”
“Why?”
Dominic stopped.
Maggie nearly walked into him.
“Because she knows something.”
Her stomach dropped.
“What?”
“She hasn't told you.”
“What hasn't she told me?”
Dominic looked at one of his men.
“Bring Nora here.”
Five minutes later, Nora entered the private room.
Her face was pale.
Maggie rushed toward her.
“Nora.”
Nora hugged her.
“Are you okay?”
“I should ask you that.”
“You look like you're going to faint.”
Nora stepped back.
“I'm sorry.”
Maggie frowned.
“For what?”
“I didn't know.”
“Know what?”
Nora looked at Dominic.
Dominic said:
“Tell her.”
Nora sat.
“There was a second invitation.”
“To the gala?”
“Yes.”
“For you?”
“No.”
“For Dominic?”
Nora swallowed.
“For you.”
Maggie stared.
“What?”
Nora pulled a folded card from her purse.
The handwriting was elegant.
Bring Maggie Doyle.
Maggie's blood ran cold.
“I don't understand.”
“Neither did I.”
“Then why did you bring me?”
Nora started crying.
“Because I thought it was part of the charity event.”
Dominic's voice was calm.
“It wasn't.”
Maggie looked at him.
“Who sent it?”
“Nobody knows.”
“That's impossible.”
“In my world, it's common.”
She hated that answer.
“What does the card mean?”
Dominic pointed to the photograph.
“Someone knows your past.”
“I don't have a past.”
“You don't remember one.”
“What does that mean?”
Dominic didn't answer immediately.
Then:
“You were born under another name.”
Maggie's heart stopped.
“What?”
He slid a file toward her.
A birth certificate.
Not Maggie Doyle.
Margaret Elena Vale.
Date of birth.
Thirty-one years earlier.
Mother:
Claire Vale.
Father:
Unknown.
Maggie stared.
“No.”
Nora whispered:
“Maggie…”
“This is fake.”
Dominic looked at her.
“It isn't.”
“My mother's name was Susan Doyle.”
“Your mother was legally changed to Susan Doyle.”
Maggie stood.
“Why?”
“Because she was trying to hide you.”
“From whom?”
Dominic's voice lowered.
“My family.”
Maggie laughed.
“No.”
She took a step backward.
“This is insane.”
Dominic didn't move.
“Your mother was connected to my father.”
“What connection?”
“She worked for him.”
“As what?”
“A bookkeeper.”
Maggie's fingers shook.
“My mother cleaned houses.”
“She told people that.”
“She loved me.”
“I know.”
“You don't know anything about her.”
“I knew her.”
The room went silent.
Maggie looked at him.
“How?”
Dominic took out an old photograph.
A young woman stood beside a shipping warehouse.
Beside her was Dominic's father.
And another man.
Maggie's supposed father.
She couldn't breathe.
“That man…”
“His name was Adrian Vale.”
Maggie's eyes widened.
“You know him.”
“Yes.”
“Who was he?”
Dominic hesitated.
“My father's accountant.”
“And my father?”
“Adrian was your father.”
She stared.
“That's impossible.”
“He disappeared the year you were born.”
“Died?”
“That's what everyone was told.”
“Then where is he?”
“We don't know.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Your mother spent thirty-one years keeping you away from the family.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian stole something.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
Maggie remembered her mother's locked drawer.
A small metal key.
A warning:
Never trust a man who asks what your father left behind.
She sat down.
“My mother knew about this?”
“Yes.”
“Did she know who you were?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did she let me work around your company?”
“She didn't know you'd end up here.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Then why do you keep looking at me like you recognize me?”
Dominic went still.
Because he had.
Not from memory.
From his father's photograph.
A baby held by Claire Vale.
A silver bracelet around her wrist.
Maggie touched her own wrist.
She wore an old bracelet her mother had given her.
A tiny silver star.
Dominic stared at it.
“That's it.”
“What?”
“The bracelet.”
He reached toward it, then stopped before touching her.
“Where did you get that?”
“My mother.”
He nodded slowly.
“My father gave that to her.”
Maggie's eyes filled.
“Why?”
“Because he intended to come back.”
“He never did.”
“No.”
“What happened?”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“My father killed him.”
Silence.
Maggie covered her mouth.
“You're telling me your family killed my father?”
“Yes.”
“And now you want something from me.”
“No.”
“What then?”
Dominic looked directly at her.
“I want to keep you alive.”
She almost laughed.
“Why?”
“Because someone is trying to finish what my father started.”
Nora looked down.
“There's more.”
Maggie turned.
“What?”
Nora's hands trembled.
“Your mother contacted me.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because she told me not to.”
Maggie stood.
“You saw my mother?”
“No.”
“She called.”
“What did she say?”
Nora looked at Dominic.
Then back at Maggie.
“She said someone was looking for the ledger.”
Maggie felt a chill.
“What ledger?”
Nora whispered:
“The one your father hid before he disappeared.”
Dominic took out his phone.
A message had arrived.
One line.
THE GIRL IS IN YOUR HOUSE. NOW GIVE ME THE BOOK.
Dominic looked at Maggie.
She didn't speak.
Then the mansion alarm sounded.
A window shattered downstairs.
Security rushed through the hall.
Dominic grabbed Maggie's hand.
“Move.”
“What is happening?”
“Someone came for you.”
He pulled her toward a hidden staircase.
Maggie stumbled.
She looked back.
Nora was running behind them.
“Dominic!”
He turned.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere they can't reach you.”
“How do you know?”
He looked at Maggie.
“Because I've been preparing for this possibility for years.”
She stopped.
“Years?”
He said nothing.
Maggie stared at him.
The truth struck her harder than the danger.
Dominic Kane had known about her before tonight.
Before the dare.
Before the seat.
May you like
Before she ever entered the ballroom.
And somehow, he had been waiting.
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