. CHAPTER 8 — The Woman in the Photograph
The silence after the recording was worse than shouting.
It had weight.
Lily stood beneath it while Evelyn Belcourt’s photograph filled the ballroom screen. The dead woman’s face looked out over the guests with tired eyes and a newborn held close to her heart.
Lily saw people compare the photograph to her.
The shape of the eyes. The mouth. The same small crease between the brows when afraid.
Richard Belcourt stepped forward. “Mother?”
Margot did not answer him.
Her gaze remained fixed on Lily, not with remorse, but with the fury of someone watching stolen property walk back through the front door.
Daniel spoke into the microphone. “This is not a theatrical accusation. This is a legal matter. Evelyn Belcourt’s will, hospital transfer records, the original infant bracelet, and tonight’s recorded admission will be submitted to the court. Until then, as trustee, I am freezing all discretionary Belcourt accounts controlled by Margot Belcourt and Richard Belcourt.”
Gasps broke through the room.
Richard’s face turned gray. “You can’t do that.”
“I already did,” Daniel said.
Caroline began to cry, but it sounded more like anger than sorrow. “This is our house.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
“No,” he said. “Legally, it may not be.”
Lily wanted triumph to arrive. She wanted some blazing feeling that would make the humiliation worthwhile. Instead, she felt hollow. She had not come to Belcourt Mansion looking for a fortune. She had come because a dead woman in a tin box had left her a mystery.
Now the mystery had opened like a wound.
Margot moved suddenly.
She crossed the stage and grabbed the necklace, trying to tear it from Lily’s neck. Lily stumbled, her hand flying to the chain.
Security rushed, but Daniel reached Margot first.
“Enough,” he said, catching her wrist.
Margot’s polished mask finally shattered.
“She was nothing!” she screamed. “A baby! A problem! I built this family while everyone worshiped a dead woman and her precious child!”
The words echoed through the ballroom.
Lily looked at her and felt something settle inside her—not peace, not yet, but truth.
“I was a baby,” Lily said. “And you were afraid of me even then.”
May you like
Margot’s hand fell.
For the first time all night, she had no answer.
