All Chapters of SECRETS OF THE BILLIONAIRE NECKLACE : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Emma didn't move after Damien said it was Richard. She just sat there, processing. Richard. The kind man. The one who'd been nothing but gentle to her. The one who'd helped Damien investigate. The one who'd brought the necklace back. "Are you sure?" she asked quietly. "No," Damien said. His voice was hollow. "But it sounds like him. The way he speaks. The authority in his voice." He closed the laptop without listening to the rest. "Why didn't you tell me?" Emma asked. "When you first gave me the necklace. Why didn't you just say Richard had it? Why hide that part?" Damien stood and walked to the window. It was raining now, the kind of heavy rain that made the world look grey and washed out. "Because I needed time," he said finally. "To process it. To understand what having the necklace back meant." "Explain," Emma said. Damien took a breath. "When Richard gave me the necklace that day at the antique shop, I felt like I was holding a bomb. Because having it meant I

Emma found the bank statements by accident. She was looking for something else, a receipt for a dress she'd returned, when she opened Tyler's email on the shared family account. The password was still the same one he'd used since high school. He'd never changed it. The first statement was dated three days after her wedding. Withdrawal: $2,000,000 Her hands went numb. She kept scrolling. More withdrawals. Hundreds of thousands at a time. Sometimes daily. The dates were all clustered at the beginning. Right after the marriage. Right after Damien had transferred the money. By the end of the first month, $7,000,000 was gone. Emma sat on the floor of her bedroom and stared at the screen until the numbers stopped making sense. Seven million dollars. The money that was supposed to be hers. The money Damien had given her. The money she'd earned by marrying a stranger and living in hell. Seven million dollars spent in thirty days. She printed out the statements and laid t

Emma found Damien in his study, working through files on Richard's business dealings. He looked up when she entered, already knowing something was wrong by the way she was breathing. "What happened?" he asked. She told him everything. Claire's confession about being there the night Katherine died. The obsession. The threat. The smile that had nothing behind it. Damien listened without interrupting. When she finished, he closed his laptop slowly. "She's going to run," he said. "What?" "Claire knows we have the recording. She knows we've figured out she was there. She's going to disappear before we can do anything about it." He stood and grabbed his jacket. "Where are you going?" Emma asked. "To Richard's house. Tonight. We're going to make him listen to that recording and we're going to watch his face when he realizes it's over." "Damien, that's dangerous. We should call the police. We should—" "Should what?" Damien interrupted. "Wait? Give them time to escape?

Emma's gallery opening was small but meaningful. The paintings on the walls were hers real paintings this time, not commissioned work for people who didn't care. Dark pieces. Honest pieces. Works that showed the cost of everything she'd been through. She stood in the corner, watching people move through the space, and tried not to think about Damien. Six months. It had been six months since she left the manor. Six months of rebuilding. Of therapy. Of learning who she was without a contract or a brother or a man who loved her but couldn't figure out how to be with her. She'd used the money from the contract to rent a small apartment and open this gallery space. The remaining funds from the ten million were locked away a safety net she'd probably never use but needed to exist. Tyler had finally gotten sober. He was in a program, working through the gambling addiction, trying to rebuild what he'd destroyed. Emma had seen him twice in six months. It was awkward and careful, bu

The courtroom was packed. Damien sat in the front row with Emma beside him. Richard was led in wearing an orange jumpsuit, looking older than he had six months ago. Prison had aged him. The judge read the charges. The evidence. The recordings played for the court. Katherine's voice filled the room. When Richard was asked if he had anything to say, he stood slowly. "I killed Katherine Cross," he said. His voice was steady. "I did it because I was afraid of losing everything. I did it because I loved her and I was angry that she wouldn't do what I asked. I did it because I was weak." He looked directly at Damien. "I'm sorry," Richard said. "I know that doesn't mean anything. I know it doesn't bring her back. But I need you to know that I've spent every day since then regretting it." Damien's jaw was clenched so hard Emma thought it might break. The judge read the sentencing guidelines. Twenty-five years minimum. Richard would likely die in prison. "It is the judgment