Chapter 173: The Heirloom Test

The box was smaller than the others.

Lillian noticed it immediately, though Beatrice had arranged the table with deliberate abundance. Silk cloth. Lacquered wood. Objects that spoke of lineage without announcing it. Rings that belonged to no current finger. Brooches shaped like flowers that had gone out of fashion a century ago and returned twice since.

The smallest box sat apart.

Beatrice did not point to it. She poured tea first. She asked Lillian about Bloom House Floral, about the winter stock and whether the humidity controls had been adjusted yet. The questions were ordinary. The cadence was not.

Lillian answered, attentive and careful. She had learned that Beatrice never rushed the moment that mattered. She prepared the air around it instead.

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