CHAPTER 2 — The Name on the Necklace
CHAPTER 2 — The Name on the Necklace
The helicopter blades thudded harder, scattering gravel and grass across the estate lawn.
Richard didn’t move.
His eyes stayed locked on the silver necklace in the boy’s hand.
The family crest.
Not a copy. Not an imitation.
The exact engraving used only in the Hale bloodline—sealed on private heirlooms and never reproduced outside the estate archives.
Vanessa stepped between them.
“This is absurd,” she said quickly, forcing a laugh that didn’t land. “Richard, you’re not seriously listening to a bleeding boy who broke onto our property?”
But Richard didn’t answer her.
He stepped forward instead.
“Give it to me,” he said quietly.
The boy hesitated, then placed the necklace in his palm.
Richard turned it over.
His fingers tightened.
“This was lost,” he said under his breath. “Years ago.”
Vanessa’s expression flickered—just for a second.
But the boy saw it.
And so did Richard.
The boy wiped more blood from his face.
“My mother kept it hidden,” he said. “She said it was proof. That if anything ever happened to her, I would need it to survive.”
Richard looked up sharply.
“Survive what?”
The boy’s voice broke.
“Her murder.”
Silence swallowed the wind for half a second.
Even the helicopter seemed to hesitate.
Vanessa’s face hardened again instantly.
“That’s enough,” she snapped. “This is insanity. Richard, look at him—he’s unstable. Probably hired by someone trying to destabilize the merger.”
But Richard wasn’t looking at her anymore.
He was looking at the boy.
At his jawline.
At his eyes.
At the faint scar above his brow.
A scar Richard had once seen in a hospital photo.
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Years ago.
A child declared stillborn.
