Chapter 3 - The Broken Locket
The private library smelled of old paper and cedar. Julian locked the mahogany doors behind them. He pointed Elena to the leather armchair, poured a glass of water, and set it before her with hands that could no longer hide their tremor.
""Tell me everything,"" Julian said, pacing behind his desk. ""Your real name, where you came from, and why you ended up applying as a scullery maid in my household three months ago.""
Elena took a slow sip, steadying her breath. ""My identification says Elena Rostova. I woke up six years ago in an off-grid recovery center in northern Italy with third-degree burns and facial reconstruction. They told me I was an orphaned migrant worker involved in an industrial explosion. My memory was gone, except for a few sensory flashes: the scent of gardenias, a nursery with blue drapery, and that lullaby.""
Julian froze. ""Leo’s nursery had blue silk drapery. Victoria had it remodeled into gray cashmere two days after Clara's funeral.""
Elena touched her temple, tears welling anew. ""I spent years working odd jobs. Then, four months ago, I saw your face on a business magazine cover during a train ride. My chest seized. When I saw the advertisement for a cleaning staff at Vance Manor, an overwhelming instinct pulled me here. I only wanted to see the child. The moment I held Leo when he fell in the garden last week... I knew his scent before he even cried.""
Julian walked over to a concealed wall safe behind an oil painting. He spun the dials and pulled out an antique silver locket—the very locket found at the bottom of the ravine where Clara’s car had exploded into flames six years prior.
He opened it. Inside was a tiny photograph of Leo as a newborn, alongside a lock of golden hair.
""If you are who I suspect you might be,"" Julian said, his voice dropping into a razor-thin rasp, ""you can tell me what is engraved inside the secret hinge beneath this photo.""
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Elena reached out with trembling fingers. She didn't need to look. ""Julian’s anchor, Clara’s wind. 09-14-2018.""
Julian dropped the locket onto the desk. It clattered like a dropped bullet. Before he could reach out to touch her, the mansion’s main circuit breaker violently clicked, plunging the room into pitch-black darkness, followed by the shrill scream of Mrs. Higgins upstairs.
