Chapter 385
Chapter 385
“What’s that?” Lucia asked, glancing at the box, square–shaped, wrapped neatly in brown kraft paper.
“David from Truvest Bank sent me a Fabergé egg,” Logan said as he slowly stood up from his wheelchair. His injured foot still couldn’t bear weight, but sitting too long made him sore.
Lucia rushed to help him, settling him onto the sofa and propping up his leg on the ottoman.
“Open it,” Logan said, gesturing toward the box.
She picked it up and began unwrapping it, trying to ease into a conversation. “Logan, I ran into Vivian the other day. She mentioned a project we could co–invest in… You remember Westmoor Heights? The one she backed? There’s barely a unit left now.”
Logan nodded.
Ashbourne had more developments than anyone could count, some sold out quickly, some turned into disasters. Even completed buildings could turn sour due to bad layouts or legal hiccups, making them impossible to sell or register.
Vivian had connections. She always knew which projects had serious backing. Her investments were small enough not to interfere but big enough to
make a difference.
Logan had told Lucia more than once that she needed to build relationships with the other society wives. That was what the “wives‘ circle was for- information sharing and mutual gains.
But friendship didn’t come from pleasantries alone. Real relationships required value exchange. But Lucia had nothing.
No powerful family. No real leverage. Just Logan’s last name. And after a couple of parties, if there was no benefit to staying connected with her, people just stopped returning her calls.
If she could actually learn to invest from someone like Vivian, that wouldn’t be a bad thing.
“Good,” Logan said. “You should’ve done this a long time ago. Bring me the proposal when you get it.”
“Proposal?” Lucia froze mid–tear. “What proposal?”
“For the project,” Logan replied, glancing at her. “What’s it about? Who’s running it? What’s the risk, the return? How much are you putting in?” He motioned for her to keep unwrapping.
Lucia’s stomach clenched. ‘Vivian never offered to include me. Voverheard her talking to someone else. What proposal am I supposed to come up with?”
She peeled another strip of kraft paper away and caught a glimpse of a dark, patterned box.
“Wait. Why does this box look so familiar?‘ she couldn’t help thinking to herself.
“Aren’t you going to finish?” Logan asked.
Something felt wrong… very wrong. Lucia didn’t know what, but it was like her body recognized the danger before her brain could catch up.
She forced a smile and kept peeling. “Sure. I’ll ask Vivian if she’s got something in writing. You’d help if it looks good, right?”
Logan gave her a strange look. ‘She expects Vivian to prepare the paperwork and me to fund it? That’s not how this works. If “roject was truly hot, they wouldn’t be inviting people in at all.‘
Still, she had no background in this. He figured she didn’t understand. He’d ask Russell Langford, Vivian’s husband, later to find out what project Vivian was actually working on.
The final layer of kraft paper came off, and Lucia went still.
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Chapter 385
She didn’t move. Her eyes locked on the box in her tap.
“That looks familiar,” Logan said.
‘More than familiar. That’s the exact box. Lucia cursed silently. ‘Of all the pawnshops in the world, they couldn’t swap out the damn packaging?”
There was still a faint smudge of her foundation near one corner. It hadn’t even been cleaned,
She’d sold off a Fabergé egg. And now it had come back. And the worst part? The box was just as valuable as the egg.
Logan took the box from her lap and tried wiping the mark with a tissue. It didn’t come off. He gave up and opened the lid.!
Inside was the single Fabergé egg, resting on dark velvet, gleaming under the light.
This wasn’t a mass–produced trinket. It belonged to a rare collector’s line, modern interpretations of Fabergé eggs, crafted in limited runs with no two alike.
Each one held a one–of–a–kind imprint sealed beneath the glaze, a natural flaw, a subtle asymmetry, or a tiny imperfection that could never be recreated. That was what made them valuable. Not perfection, but the impossibility of repetition.
Logan already owned one. It was a birthday gift from an old friend. The design on that one had been incomplete, a fragment of what it was meant to be He’d always hoped to find another with a matching flaw, just to create a perfectly imperfect pair.
He never made a big deal out of it, but those around him knew. David at Truvest had kept it in mind.
So when a similar egg surfaced in a private collector’s circle, David let him know right away. Logan had been thrilled. He even committed his next round of capital to Truvest’s fund on the spot.
Now, he was studying the new egg with intense focus, turning it slowly in his hands, comparing it to the one engraved in his memory. He didn’t notice Lucia’s face draining of color.
She couldn’t believe it.
‘That’s the one. That’s exactly the egg I sold for pennies. How the hell did it end up here?‘
Logan picked up the egg, checking every detail. He was already thinking about the possibility. ‘What if this really is the match? What if fate finally handed me the twin I’ve been searching for?‘
Then he heard her breathing, so ragged and erratic. He turned and saw Lucia pressing hard into the flesh between her thumb and index finger, as if the pain was the only thing keeping her from breaking down.
“What’s wrong?”
“I… I don’t feel well,” she said, voice shaky, forehead damp with sweat. She curled her fingers into a fist, trying to stop the tremor. “Must’ve caught something outside today. I’m dizzy. Jenna, help me upstairs.“”
Jenna appeared from the kitchen and rushed to her side. When she caught sight of the Fabergé egg on Logan’s lap, she froze. “Oh!”
“What now?” the butler barked.
Jenna glanced at Lucia, who gave her a sharp look/ She recovered fast. “I just… Mrs. Winifred looks pale. I’m worried, that’s all.”
Logan looked up. Her face did look awful. “Should I call the doctor?”
“No need. I’ll be fine after some rest.” Lucia practically ran out of the room.
Once the door was closed, Jenna turned and whispered frantically. “That Fabergé egg in Mr. Winifred’s hands… Is it the same one?”
Lucia nodded, both hands clenched over her heart. She was pacing, panicked. ‘What if Logan asks someone to bring out that one?”
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Chapter 385
All the valuables in storage had been cataloged by her. If anyone started acking duestions, all Anders will point for
She was terrified. And Jenna could feel it.
Then Lucia stopped pacing and turned to her with wide, pleading eyes. Jenns felt hat Broad nin calf “bra’am.
“Jenna,” Lucia said, grabbing her hand tightly. “I’ve treated you well these past few years, haven’t if this is the moment you regay re
Jenna’s body tensed. She yanked her hand back. “Ma’am… stealing from the household is unforgalds
If it had just been one Fabergé egg, maybe she could cry, grovel, plead for mercy. Maybe. But most of the gifts in storage were already gone, rekt att cheap.
If Jenna took the blame, it wouldn’t be a slap on the wrist. It would be criminal theft.
It didn’t matter what Lucia sold them for. They would assess everything at full market value. Hundreds of thousands, maybe even more Thane 4m th way Jenna could repay that, not with anything she had.
