CHAPTER 10: TWENTY YEARS AGO

Damien woke up screaming.

Emma jolted awake beside him, heart pounding. For a moment, she didn't understand what was happening. Then she saw his face twisted in terror, eyes still trapped somewhere else.

"Damien," she said, grabbing his shoulders. "Damien, wake up."

He gasped like he'd been drowning. His whole body was shaking. Sweat soaked through his shirt.

"It's okay," Emma whispered. "You're okay. You're here."

He didn't speak for a long time. Just sat there breathing hard, staring at nothing.

Finally, he said, "I need to tell you about that night. About my mother. About the necklace."

Emma didn't ask questions. She just waited.

Damien got out of bed and walked to the window. He stood there for a moment, then started talking.

"I was twelve years old. My mother was beautiful like, genuinely beautiful. Not in the way women at galas are beautiful. She was beautiful like she didn't care what anyone thought about it. She wore what she wanted. Said what she meant. My father loved her desperately."

He paused.

"The necklace was a wedding gift. From my father's family. It came from his grandmother, who'd been a duchess somewhere in Europe. The sapphire was supposedly one of the largest uncut stones in the world. My mother wore it constantly. She said it made her feel powerful."

Emma was quiet, listening.

"That night," Damien continued, "there was a party. Nothing formal. Just family. I was supposed to be in bed but I snuck out. I wanted to see my mother in her dress."

He closed his eyes like he was seeing it again.

"She was in her bedroom, getting ready. She wore the necklace with a white gown. She looked like something from a painting. When she saw me in the doorway, she smiled and pulled me close. She smelled like jasmine and that perfume she always wore."

His voice cracked slightly.

"She told me I was getting too big to sneak around at night. She said soon I'd be a man and I wouldn't want to spend time with my mother anymore. I remember telling her that was stupid, that I'd always want to spend time with her."

Damien opened his eyes and looked at Emma.

"She kissed the top of my head and told me to go back to bed. But I didn't go to bed. I went to the balcony instead. My parents' balcony overlooks the gardens. I wanted to see if I could spot the gardener's daughter claire. She used to leave little stones in patterns for me to find."

He moved away from the window and sat on the edge of the bed.

"That's when I heard voices. Angry voices. My mother's and someone else's. A man. I couldn't see them from where I was standing but I could hear them arguing through the open door."

"Who was the man?" Emma asked.

"I don't know," Damien said. "My mind won't let me remember. But in the nightmare, I see a figure. I see hands pushing. I see my mother stumbling backward."

He put his head in his hands.

"The nightmare shows me her eyes. She's surprised at first. Then terrified. And then she's falling. And I'm frozen. I can't move. I can't help her. I just watch."

Emma moved closer to him. She didn't touch him yet. Just waited.

"When I finally moved," Damien continued, "when I finally went to the door, there was no one there. Just my mother's necklace on the floor, covered in blood. And the sound of people running. Screaming. The thud when she hit the ground."

He looked at Emma. "I picked up the necklace. I don't even remember doing it. But I had it in my hand when the guards found me. They took it from me. Said it was evidence. I never saw it again until I was twenty-seven years old."

"Where did you find it?" Emma asked.

"Richard had it," Damien said. "He told me it was in the evidence room. That he'd gotten a copy of the files when the case was closed. The necklace had been logged, catalogued, and then... it disappeared from the evidence room. No one knew where it went. Richard found it in an antique shop in the city. He recognized the inscription on the back and bought it immediately."

Emma thought about this. "Why would it disappear from evidence?"

"Because someone didn't want it to be found," Damien said. "Someone wanted to erase proof that my mother was there that night. That she was wearing it when she died."

He stood up and walked to the dresser where the necklace sat, catching the early morning light.

"I kept it hidden for years. I didn't know why at first. I just couldn't bear to look at it. Then, as I got older, I understood. This necklace was the only proof that something wasn't right about that night. The only evidence that my mother didn't jump. That she was pushed."

Damien picked up the necklace carefully.

"I gave it to you because..." He trailed off, searching for words. "Because I needed someone to have it who didn't have a stake in protecting whoever did this. Someone outside the family. Someone who could see it clearly."

"You gave it to me because you trusted me," Emma said quietly.

"Yes," Damien admitted. "Even though I'm terrible at trusting people. Even though the contract said I shouldn't. I gave you the one thing that could destroy my entire family because some part of me knew you would want the truth more than you'd want to protect anyone."

Emma stood and took the necklace from his hands. It was warm from his touch.

"We're going to find out who did this," she said. "We're going to listen to that recording and we're going to figure out who pushed your mother. And then we're going to make sure they answer for it."

Damien pulled her close. "I'm scared," he whispered. "I'm scared of what I'm going to remember. I'm scared of who it might be."

"I know," Emma said. "But you're not alone anymore."

They stood there in the pre-dawn light, holding each other, both of them understanding that everything was about to change. That the truth they were about to uncover would reshape everything they thought they knew about Damien's family.

About Claire.

About the night Katherine died.

About the sapphire necklace that had survived twenty years of lies.