Chapter 3 - The Falcon in the PearlJulian picked up the pearl.
At first glance, it looked ordinary.
Then he tilted it toward the chandelier.
His expression changed.
Etched into the pearl was a tiny falcon holding an olive branch beneath three interlocking rings.
The Vance family crest.
Not a public symbol.
A private mark reserved for direct descendants.
Julian's fingers tightened around the pearl.
Impossible.
His family had used those pearls for generations. Each one had been individually engraved in Geneva and passed only to members of the primary bloodline.
But there was one person who had disappeared with several of them.
His sister.
Eleanor.
Ten years earlier, Eleanor Vance had defied the family council by marrying a man they considered beneath her. The family had disowned her.
Then she vanished.
Julian had spent years searching.
No body.
No confirmed death.
No answers.
He looked at the little girl.
"Where did you get this?"
She slowly opened her tiny hand.
May you like
Three more pearls rested inside.
Julian felt the room disappear around him.
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