Chapter 5 - POLISH IT AGAIN
Emma remembered more after she regained consciousness.
Victoria had summoned her to the formal dining room shortly after midnight. The entire silver service had been arranged across the table beneath bright lamps.
A pair of gloves and a jar of polish waited beside it.
“Clean every piece,” Victoria ordered.
Emma asked why.
Carter locked the doors.
They wanted her fingerprints and skin oils across the replicas. They had already prepared a statement claiming Emma stole several original pieces, replaced them with copies, and intended to sell the collection before leaving her husband.
If she signed, they would describe the matter as a private family betrayal and avoid reporting the insurance discrepancy.
If she refused, they planned to say she fled after being confronted.
Emma picked up one of the trays.
Instead of polishing the underside, she deliberately left the modern maker’s mark untouched.
Victoria noticed.
“She isn’t cleaning it properly.”
Emma put the cloth down.
“I’m not signing anything.”
Victoria grabbed her by the hair.
Carter took a weighted practice club from the adjoining study. He struck the floor first, close enough to make Emma flinch, then used it against her body while demanding she admit to stealing the originals.
Emma protected her belly.
Carter accused her of caring more about the baby than her marriage.
“I told him the baby was his,” she whispered from the hospital bed.
“What did he say?”
Emma closed her eyes.
“He said the baby made everything harder.”
Victoria brought tea into the room during a pause in the assault. She ordered Emma to drink because she was “becoming hysterical.”
The tea tasted bitter.
Within twenty minutes, Emma felt dizzy and weak.
The prescription blood thinner had already been in her system before Carter resumed hurting her.
When she could no longer stand, they placed her inside the family SUV, drove her away from the estate, and left her at the bus shelter in a soaked hoodie.
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They removed her shoes so walking for help would be more difficult.
They believed the cold, the medication, and her injuries would finish what they had started.
