Chapter 4
The emerald necklace was bait.
Savannah did not know that until my father explained it.
My mother Catherine had worn the necklace during Ashford succession dinners because the clasp contained a tiny family crest no ordinary jeweler would notice. It was symbolic, not magical—an old marker of the woman who controlled the household side of Ashford power.
After Mom died, Dad gave it to me.
Victor knew what it represented.
So he told Logan to put it on Savannah.
Not because Savannah deserved it.
Because I would recognize the insult immediately.
Savannah slowly removed the necklace.
Her hands shook.
“He told Logan it would make the picture complete.”
I stared at her.
“What picture?”
She looked ashamed.
“Me replacing you.”
Exactly.
Pregnant mistress.
Mother’s emeralds.
Second crib.
Packed baby clothes.
A replacement family installed before I left the driveway.
Every piece arranged to make violence look inevitable.
I looked at Logan.
“How long?”
He said nothing.
I stepped closer.
“How long have you been helping Victor?”
“Eight months.”
Savannah’s head snapped toward him.
Eight months.
Her pregnancy.
Nearly exact.
Something inside her face collapsed.
“You told me this started after we—”
“No,” I said quietly.
I looked at her.
“He was using you before he started sleeping with you.”
That hurt her more than anything I could have said.
Good.
Not because I enjoyed it.
Because clarity was overdue.
Logan finally spoke.
“Victor said Bianca was becoming impossible.”
I almost laughed.
“What did I do?”
“You overruled older captains.”
“They were skimming from workers.”
“You changed security.”
“Because two guards were feeding Victor information.”
He stopped.
There.
I had unknowingly cut into the conspiracy months earlier.
Victor needed another route.
My husband.
Logan looked at Dad.
“He said Bianca was turning Ashford into something unrecognizable.”
Dad’s eyes sharpened.
“And you believed him?”
Logan looked away.
“No.”
That answer surprised me.
Then he added:
“I believed he could make me important.”
There it was.
Not ideology.
Hunger.
He had married an Ashford heiress and discovered being close to power did not mean possessing it.
Victor promised him a chair.
May you like
Savannah promised him admiration.
And I became the obstacle in the middle.
