Chapter 3 - THE WORKERS ERASED FROM THE CATALOG.
Maya had never known her father worked for Bellamy Jewelers.
Her mother told her Rafael died in a factory accident before she was born.
David revealed the company had removed his name after he challenged a contract transferring apprentice designs to the Bellamy family for one dollar.
A retired setter named Ruth Coleman stepped forward from the customer line.
“Rafael trained half the jewelers whose work made this store famous.”
Claire called Ruth a bitter former employee.
Ruth lifted her hands.
“These fingers built your showcases while your family photographed itself beside them.”
The original contract promised apprentices thirty percent ownership if their designs generated enough revenue. Bellamy later reclassified them as temporary trainees and erased the shares.
Maya asked why David had kept the drawing hidden.
He admitted Claire’s mother, Eleanor Bellamy, ordered him to preserve it in case Rafael’s heir challenged the company.
“She wanted evidence?” Maya asked.
“No,” David replied. “She wanted to know whom to discredit first.”
Then Ruth opened her old locker key box.
May you like
One key was missing.
The missing key had been found that morning inside Maya’s backpack.
