They searched the wrong apartment.
The realization hit me like lightning.
Daniel stared at me carefully.
“What are you talking about?”
My pulse became unbearable.
The necklace.
The silver necklace my mother gave me the week before she died.
Tiny hidden compartment.
At the time I thought it was sentimental.
Now?
Now it felt like a warning sent across eight years.
I stepped away from Daniel immediately.
Instinct.
Because suddenly I didn’t know who could be trusted anymore.
Even now.
Even after everything.
Richard noticed the shift instantly.
His eyes narrowed.
Interesting.
He knew.
Or at least suspected.
“What necklace?” he asked calmly.
Too calmly.
That alone answered enough.
I looked directly at him.
“You already know.”
The silence that followed became dangerous.
Daniel turned toward his father slowly.
And for the first time since this nightmare began…
I saw genuine suspicion in his eyes too.
Not toward me.
Toward Richard.
“What necklace?” Daniel repeated.
Richard ignored him completely.
Which somehow frightened me more than anger would have.
Evelyn stepped closer carefully.
“Sophia… where is it?”
I swallowed hard.
“At home.”
Daniel’s expression changed immediately.
“No.”
The sharpness in his voice startled everyone.
Even Richard looked surprised.
Daniel stepped toward me again.
“You can’t go there tonight.”
I crossed my arms tightly.
“It’s my apartment.”
“It’s compromised.”
That word.
Compromised.
Again with the language of strategy and damage control.
But this time…
I understood why he was saying it.
Because someone broke into my home looking for evidence connected to my mother’s death.
And now they knew they failed.
Which meant:
they would try again.
A terrible thought suddenly hit me.
“What if they already know about the necklace?”
Nobody answered immediately.
Bad sign.
Very bad sign.
Evelyn looked deeply unsettled now.
“If your mother hid something inside it…”
“She did,” Richard interrupted coldly.
The ballroom froze instantly.
Daniel turned toward him sharply.
“You knew?”
Richard finally looked irritated.
Not exposed.
Irritated.
Like a man exhausted by amateurs mishandling a situation.
“She wore that necklace constantly during the investigation.”
Investigation.
Not accident.
Investigation.
The word changed everything.
Daniel noticed too.
“You told me there wasn’t an official investigation.”
“There wasn’t.”
Richard adjusted his cufflinks slowly.
“But your mother wasn’t stupid, Sophia.”
My stomach twisted violently hearing him say her name.
“She knew documents were disappearing,” he continued calmly.
“She knew people were being paid off.”
The reporters surged forward again instantly.
Questions exploded across the ballroom.
“Paid off for what?”
“Who disappeared?”
“Was the accident intentional?”
But Richard ignored them all.
His focus stayed entirely on me.
And suddenly I understood something horrifying:
He wasn’t trying to protect himself anymore.
He was trying to predict what my mother left behind.
Daniel stepped between us slightly.
“That’s enough.”
Richard’s eyes darkened immediately.
Father and son.
Again.
But different now.
Not power.
Fear.
Daniel was afraid of what Richard might say next.
And Richard was afraid Daniel might finally stop protecting the family.
Evelyn looked toward me carefully.
“You need to leave the city.”
I almost laughed.
Leave the city?
Twelve hours ago I was planning a wedding.
Now people were telling me to disappear.
“No.”
My voice surprised even me.
Firm.
Cold.
Steady.
I looked directly at Richard.
“My mother died because of this family.”
Richard didn’t answer.
That silence said enough.
Tears burned behind my eyes again, but I forced them back.
No more crying in front of these people.
No more breaking apart while they stayed calm.
Daniel noticed immediately.
And somehow…
he looked proud of me.
That made me angry too.
“You don’t get to look at me like that anymore,” I whispered.
Pain crossed his face instantly.
Good.
The reporters suddenly erupted again near the entrance.
More security arriving.
But not hotel security this time.
Police.
Real police.
The ballroom atmosphere changed immediately.
Guests began leaving faster now.
Nobody wanted to be attached to this scandal anymore.
A detective stepped through the crowd holding a tablet.
Serious expression.
Focused eyes.
He walked directly toward Richard Hart.
Interesting.
Not toward me.
Not toward Daniel.
Toward Richard.
The detective spoke quietly enough that only we could hear:
“Sir… another body was found tonight.”
The air vanished from my lungs.
Daniel froze.
Evelyn went pale instantly.
But Richard?
Richard barely reacted.
Which meant he already knew who it was before the detective said the name.
The detective looked directly at me.
Then said quietly:
“The reporter who leaked the apartment photos.”