CHAPTER 4: The Woman by the Door

The young woman in black did not come closer.
She remained beside the open front doors, one hand pressed against her throat. Her name was Elise Varron, though the staff had been instructed to call her a family consultant. Nora knew better. Elise had been at every dinner where Dorian forgot to look guilty.
Marion had introduced her as brilliant, discreet, indispensable.
Nora had translated those words in silence.
Tonight, Elise had been in the upstairs study when Dorian placed the trust papers on the desk. Marion had stood by the fireplace. A gold pen waited beside the documents. They told Nora it was temporary control, a protective measure, a way to shield the Caldwell resort merger from her father's interference.
Then Nora read the third page.
Guardianship. Medical discretion. Emergency incapacity.
She had backed toward the balcony doors for air.
Dorian had followed.
Elise's silence in the doorway now told Nora exactly how much she had seen.