Chapter 7 - NATHAN BELL
Nathan called James directly an hour later.
His first sentence changed everything.
“Serena told me the package arrived.”
James went still.
“What package?”
Silence.
Nathan realized too late.
James moved to another room.
“Start over.”
Nathan claimed the vial contained a legal food additive used in high-end pastry work.
He had mailed it because Serena wanted to recreate a dessert from an old event.
James asked why there was no label.
Nathan hesitated.
“It was transferred into a smaller container.”
“Why?”
“Convenience.”
James nearly laughed.
“Why did Serena hide the delivery?”
“I don’t know.”
Nathan sounded genuinely uncomfortable.
Then he added:
“She told me Emily had been difficult lately.”
James’s face hardened.
“What does my daughter have to do with pastry ingredients?”
Another pause.
“She said Emily would probably make a scene if she saw her preparing anything unusual.”
James looked toward the party room.
Emily had been preemptively discredited.
Before she ever recorded anything.
May you like
That mattered.
Even if the liquid proved harmless, Serena had already built a story in which Emily could not be trusted.
