Chapter 1 - The Plate with the Silver MarkA security guard was pulling Maya away when the girl pointed at Alexander Hayes’s dessert.
“Don’t eat that cake!”
Vanessa Reed turned toward the disturbance. “Get her out!”
While her attention remained on the girl, Alexander exchanged the two porcelain plates. Vanessa faced him again, smiled, and took one small bite.
Then she noticed the silver imperfection along the rim.
“You switched them?”
The television behind Alexander activated. Grainy footage showed Vanessa beside a covered dessert tray in the service corridor.
“Put it in his dessert,” her recorded voice said.
The clip froze.
Alexander struck the table once with his palm. Glasses and silverware jumped beneath the impact.
Vanessa remained conscious, but every trace of confidence left her face.
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Maya stopped struggling.
She had not entered the restaurant by chance. Less than an hour earlier, she had been searching the hotel loading area for food when she overheard Vanessa arguing with a kitchen employee about a dessert that had to reach only one guest.
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