Chapter 12 - The Night Grace Vanished AgainFor two weeks, it seemed like truth might win.
Eleanor was removed from the Rosewood Foundation board. Conrad fled to Florida. Charles Wexler agreed to cooperate in exchange for protection. Sarah began physical therapy. Grace started school under a temporary private arrangement, and Victoria watched the little girl walk into class with a rose-shaped barrette in her hair.
Then Grace vanished again.
This time, it happened in daylight.
Victoria had just finished a meeting with attorneys when Sarah called, screaming.
“She’s gone. Victoria, she’s gone.”
Grace had stepped into the school courtyard after lunch. There were teachers, cameras, other children. Somehow, between one bell and the next, she disappeared.
Victoria reached the school in twelve minutes.
Police were already there. Sarah stood near the gate, shaking so hard she could barely speak. Her eyes found Victoria’s.
“I let her out of my sight.”
“No,” Victoria said, gripping her shoulders. “Someone took her.”
The security footage showed Grace walking toward the fountain. A woman in a nurse’s coat approached her. Grace smiled as if she recognized the woman.
Then the camera flickered.
When it returned, both were gone.
Sarah stared at the screen. “She knew her.”
Victoria’s stomach tightened.
“Who would Grace trust?”
Sarah swallowed. “No one from the Rosewoods.”
Victoria watched the footage again.
The woman’s face was partly hidden, but something about the walk felt familiar. Controlled. Expensive. Confident.
Then the nurse turned slightly.
Victoria saw a pearl bracelet.
Not Eleanor.
Someone younger.
Victoria grabbed her phone and called Marcus.
“Find my cousin Lydia.”
Lydia Rosewood had been quiet during the dinner. Too quiet. She had cried when Amelia’s tape played, hugged Sarah afterward, and offered to help with Grace’s school transition.
She had also inherited Eleanor’s talent for appearing harmless.
By sunset, Marcus found Lydia’s car abandoned near a marina.
Inside was Grace’s backpack.
The rose barrette was broken on the passenger seat.
Sarah nearly collapsed when she saw it.
Victoria picked up the barrette with a steady hand.
Then her phone buzzed.
A video appeared from an unknown number.
Grace sat in a chair inside a white room. She looked scared but unharmed.
Lydia’s voice spoke from behind the camera.
“Victoria, you should have let Grandmother handle the family quietly. Now everyone wants what the rings can unlock. Bring the trust seal to Pier 19 at midnight, or Grace becomes another Rosewood tragedy.”
The video ended.
Sarah whispered, “Why would Lydia do this?”
Victoria stared at the black screen.
“Because Eleanor taught us all the same lesson.”
“What lesson?”
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Victoria’s voice turned cold.
“That love is weakness unless you use it as leverage.”
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