The Blue Thread
Chapter 05 - The Blue Thread
The blue thread had no monetary value.
Emma’s grandmother once tied the same color around newborn blankets because she believed babies should enter the world with one small thing chosen by love instead of a hospital. When Emma packed for delivery, she brought a spool from her grandmother’s sewing box.
Nurse Rachel laughed when Emma asked her to use it.
“Hospital blankets are standardized.”
“Then make this one mine.”
Rachel tied the thread near the corner and trimmed the ends.
After Emma was told the baby died, she asked for the blanket.
The hospital said it had been disposed of.
Yet there it was in Ashford House.
That afternoon, Emma was cleaning the foyer when Victoria descended carrying the baby. She wore a champagne gown for a family portrait session scheduled later. The child was wrapped in white, the blue thread partly hidden beneath Victoria’s hand.
Emma stopped working.
Victoria saw where she was looking.
“You were dismissed.”
“The house manager said only Mr. Ashford can terminate staff during probation.”
Victoria’s expression hardened. “You have been studying us.”
“I have been looking for my son.”
The photographer and stylist had not yet arrived. The foyer was empty except for them. Victoria moved closer, confident the mansion itself would protect her.
“You were paid.”
Emma stared at her. “What?”
“Your medical expenses. Your apartment arrears. A transfer was made through the clinic.”
“I never received money.”
“Then someone else took it. That is not my concern.”
The baby stirred at Emma’s voice.
Victoria shifted him impatiently.
“Please,” Emma whispered. “Let me hold him once.”
“You think holding him will make you his mother?”
“I am his mother.”
Victoria’s composure snapped.
She caught Emma by the wrist, nails pressing into skin.
“You were an inconvenience my husband created before he died. This child is the Ashford heir. He will not grow up in a basement apartment with a girl who serves dinner.”
Emma looked at the child, then at Victoria.
“You just admitted Daniel was his father.”
Victoria released her.
Too late.
A shadow moved near the staircase.
May you like
Henry Ashford had heard enough to begin asking questions.
But not enough to reveal himself yet.
