The Glass No One Could Touch
Chapter 02 - The Glass No One Could Touch
Emily was taken to a private sitting room where paramedics examined her.
She had not been seriously harmed, but a rapid test found traces of a prescription sedative in her blood. The medication had never been prescribed to her.
The same compound appeared inside the whiskey glass Julian kept urging her to finish.
Emily rarely drank.
Julian knew that.
He had told guests she was intoxicated before she had consumed half the glass.
In the ballroom, evidence officers photographed the pedestal, cake table, watch, and every glass within reach of Emily’s seat.
Vivian protested when they opened the narrow drawer beneath the cake display.
Inside were a small medicine vial, a disposable dropper, a second phone, and a folded guardianship order already prepared for a judge’s signature.
The phone contained a message from Julian.
MAKE SURE SHE LOOKS CONFUSED BEFORE DAD ARRIVES.
Thomas read the message once, then gave the device back to Ortiz.
Emily entered the ballroom wrapped in a dark shawl. Her father moved toward her but stopped before touching her.
“May I?”
She nodded.
He embraced her carefully.
They had not spoken in eleven months.
Julian had convinced Emily that Thomas wanted to control her inheritance and destroy her marriage. Thomas had responded by sending letters through attorneys instead of coming to her directly.
Both men had framed distance as respect.
Only one had used it as a weapon.
Ortiz examined the gold watch.
The serial number did not belong to the Mercer family.
It was registered to Dr. Catherine Hart—Emily’s mother, who died twelve years earlier after investigating financial misconduct inside Hart Biomedical Trust.
Julian had announced to five hundred witnesses that Emily stole an object that legally belonged to her.
More importantly, the watch contained an encrypted storage capsule.
Its emergency sensor had activated when Julian forced the clasp open during his staged accusation.
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The capsule automatically uploaded its contents to an independent state repository.
Whatever Catherine had hidden inside it could no longer be erased.
