Chapter 4: The Necklace Accusation
1239 Words
By the time Maren reached Skyline House, the Beaumont family was already seated in a private dining room overlooking the city.
The room was all polished glass, pale stone, and carefully restrained luxury.
Elise sat in the place beside their mother.
Of course she did.
She wore a cream dress with pearl buttons and a delicate gold necklace. The entire look had been designed to suggest innocence, softness, and absolutely no awareness of its own expense.
Theo Beaumont was looking at his phone.
He glanced up when Maren entered.
His expression changed for a fraction of a second.
Surprise.
Perhaps even admiration.
Then his mouth hardened.
“At least you didn’t dress like you found your clothes in a donation bin this time.”
Maren placed her bag beside her chair.
“Good afternoon to you too, Theo.”
Their father frowned.
“You’re late.”
She checked the clock on the wall.
“I’m three minutes early.”
“That isn’t the point.”
She almost asked what the point was, then decided she already knew.
She had arrived as herself.
That was enough to offend them.
Elise stood and gave her a bright smile.
“Maren, you look beautiful.”
Her gaze lingered on the dress, then on the earrings.
“I almost feel underdressed, and today was supposed to be my celebration.”
There it was.
Not an accusation.
Just a gentle little blade, wrapped in velvet and handed directly to the family.
Their mother immediately looked Maren over.
“Did you really need to arrive dressed like this?”
Maren pulled out her chair.
“Dressed like what?”
“You know exactly what I mean. Today is about Elise. You could have shown some consideration.”
Elise touched their mother’s arm.
“It’s fine. Maren is Mrs. Ravenscroft now. Of course she has beautiful things.”
Her smile turned wistful.
“I’m happy for her. Everything she has should have been hers from the beginning anyway.”
Their mother’s expression softened at once.
“Oh, sweetheart. Don’t say that.”
“I mean it.” Elise lowered her eyes. “Maren is the real Beaumont daughter. I’m only adopted. Sometimes I worry she thinks I stole her family.”
Theo put down his phone.
“No one is replacing you.”
Their father nodded. “You will always be our daughter.”
Maren sat in silence.
Elise had turned helpless sweetness into a weapon, and the entire family had volunteered to be stabbed with it.
Their mother looked at Maren.
“You see how considerate she is? You could learn something from your sister.”
Maren unfolded her napkin.
“My clothes were selected by the Ravenscroft household because I was attending a formal family lunch.”
“You could have refused,” Theo said.
“Why?”
“So Elise wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.”
Elise immediately shook her head.
“I’m not uncomfortable.”
“Then the problem is solved,” Maren said.
Their mother’s face tightened.
“You always have to make everything difficult.”
“I walked into a room wearing a dress. The difficulty seems to have developed on its own.”
Theo gave a humorless laugh.
“Marriage has made you arrogant.”
“No. It has made me less patient.”
A server entered, temporarily interrupting the tension.
Lunch was placed on the table.
Their father began discussing Elise’s new position at Alden & Rowe, the design company where the original Maren had once worked.
“Elise will be joining as an assistant brand manager,” he said. “It is an excellent opportunity.”
“Congratulations,” Maren said.
Elise smiled. “Thank you. I know things ended badly for you there, but I hope that won’t make this awkward.”
Theo’s expression turned cold.
“Things ended badly because Maren stole from you.”
Maren set down her fork.
“I did not steal anything.”
Their father exhaled impatiently.
“We are not discussing this again.”
“Then Theo should not have brought it up.”
“You were found with Elise’s necklace in your bag,” their mother said. “How many times do we have to go through this?”
“Until someone examines what actually happened.”
Elise looked wounded.
“Maren, I never wanted you to lose your job.”
“You reported the accusation to my employer.”
“I was upset.”
“You were very efficient for someone so upset.”
“Maren,” Theo warned.
She turned to him.
“What?”
“You humiliated Elise, refused to apologize, and made the whole family look ridiculous.”
A memory flashed through her mind.
Theo’s hand pressing down on the original Maren’s shoulder.
Their mother calling her ungrateful.
Elise crying while the necklace sat inside a bag she had never touched.
Back then, Maren had denied everything, but she had been too devastated to think beyond that denial.
She was not that woman anymore.
She looked around the private room.
Then she remembered the Beaumont residence.
Security at every entrance.
Cameras in the main corridors.
Staff logs.
Digital access records.
No wealthy family protected its jewelry while leaving its home unmonitored.
Maren leaned back in her chair.
“Where is the security footage?”
Silence fell over the table.
Theo frowned. “What?”
“The necklace disappeared inside the Beaumont residence. My bag was in a public sitting room. There were security cameras in the hall and outside that room.”
Their mother shook her head.
“You’re trying to blame Elise again.”
“I haven’t blamed anyone.”
“You implied it.”
“I asked for evidence.”
Their father’s expression darkened.
“This happened months ago.”
“Then it should have been simple to check at the time.”
“Elise would never frame you,” their mother said.
Maren looked at her.
“You believed I would steal from her without checking a single recording. Why is Elise’s innocence automatic while mine requires a miracle?”
No one answered.
Elise’s fingers tightened around her napkin.
Maren noticed.
She continued calmly.
“If the footage shows me taking the necklace, I will apologize in front of everyone.”
Theo folded his arms.
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Then whoever touched my bag will do the same.”
Elise’s face had gone slightly pale.
Their father dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand.
“The recordings are probably gone by now.”
“Probably?”
“The system does not preserve footage forever.”
Maren held his gaze.
“So the footage existed.”
Elise’s water glass stopped halfway to her lips.
It was a tiny reaction.
Almost nothing.
But Maren had spent years working in design. Her job depended on noticing small differences—the wrong shade, the uneven line, the detail no one else thought mattered.
She saw fear.
Not outrage.
Not hurt.
Fear.
Maren turned toward Elise.
“You knew there were cameras, didn’t you?”
Elise forced a laugh.
“Everyone knows there are cameras.”
“Then you should want the footage found.”
“I do.”
The answer came too quickly.
Maren smiled.
“Good. We agree.”
Beneath the table, Elise’s fingers curled into her palm.
That footage had been erased.
Maren was never supposed to know it had existed.
- Writer
