Chapter 1 - THE DEED SHE FOUND BEHIND THE LOCK.
Noah crossed the ballroom as every chandelier seemed to sharpen the silence.
“Where is Lila?”
Vincent pointed toward the entrance.
“Leave before you disgrace us again.”
Noah ignored him, turned the brass key and opened the locked room. Lila sat inside, fully conscious, tape across her mouth and tears on her face.
He removed it carefully.
“Who did this?”
Lila looked past him at the guests.
“Vincent ordered the door locked after I found the original deed.”
Vincent called her a liar from a service family trying to marry into money.
Lila answered, “My father repaired this mansion for thirty years. He knew which walls were built with unpaid wages.”
She pulled a folded document from beneath her silver gown. It stated that forty-three household employees had financed the estate during bankruptcy and received permanent ownership shares.
Then Noah saw the final line.
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If any Whitmore confined or threatened a beneficiary, control of the mansion transferred immediately to the workers.
The listed witness was Eleanor.
