Chapter 39
Chapter 39: The Crimson Ribbon
The peace lasted exactly forty-eight hours into the new year.
It was a quiet Thursday afternoon when the delivery arrived at the Brooklyn sanctuary. It wasn't a bomb, and it wasn't a threat against Lillian. It was a small, high-end wooden box, identical to the one Enzo had used to give Harper her pearl bracelet on their anniversary.
Harper opened it in her private office, Enzo standing guard by the door.
Inside the box lay a single piece of vintage white silk lace—a perfect match to the fabric of the wedding dress that had been torn to shreds on their first night together. Wrapped around the lace was a thin crimson ribbon, and attached to it was a small, ancient silver key.
There was no note, no signature, and no routing numbers. But on the back of the silver key, carved into the metal with precise, professional detail, was a single symbol: a stylized crest of a falcon—the ancient crest of the Vance family lineage, the European branch that Preston’s mother had belonged to before she immigrated to America.
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Harper’s breath hitched, her hand flying to her mouth as she looked at the key. "Julian... Julian is dead, Enzo. You saw his accounts. You saw him sign the papers in the cellar."
Enzo stepped to the desk, his eyes hardening into flint as he picked up the silver key, turning it over in his hand. "Julian signed the papers, but he didn't give us the European codes. He said he didn't have them. He said they belonged to the 'Elder Brother'."
