Chapter 2

[Run. Never come back to Dislinton.] Those words seared into my heart like a branding iron.

I stared at the envelope, my heart racing wildly.

What did this mean?

Did Catherine not kick me out due to suspicions of me stealing the ring?

Was there more to it?

I took a deep breath and pulled several thick sheets of paper from the envelope.

The very first line struck me like a bolt of lightning: [Norah, by the time you read this, I'll already be dead.]

Dead? How could that be?

When I left, she appeared fine. Sure, her face was a bit cold, but there was no way she was truly in danger.

My hands began to shake so badly that I could barely hold the paper.

I forced myself to calm down and continued reading. [Please forgive me for sending you away so ruthlessly. It was the only way I could protect you.

[I intentionally "lost" the ring to give you a believable excuse to leave Dislinton and escape the storm surrounding the Hamilton family immediately.

[I had to ensure that everyone perceived you as a pitiful, down-and-out maid who got thrown out with nothing. Only then would they ignore you, and only then would you be safe.]

My thoughts were in turmoil.

Who would want to hurt me?

What was Catherine so desperate to avoid?

The handwriting was shaky, revealing the writer's anxiety.

I kept reading: [Norah, thank you for these twelve years. You always believed you were a mere maid, but to me, you were the only person I could truly call family, the only one I could rely on.

[I never had children, and for years, Mr. William Hamilton (my husband) and I have merely been going through the motions. You're the only one in this house who truly cares for me.

[Over the years, Mr. Hamilton and his mistress have schemed in every possible way to snatch away all my money and properties. The only thing I can leave you is these nineteen deeds I quietly put in your name long ago.

[I used my mother's inheritance to buy them for you, starting from your second year working here. All the paperwork and purchase details are concealed, with no ties to the Hamilton family. They're completely yours, untouched by anyone else.]

I gazed at the property deeds, a chill running through my entire body.

So Catherine had been preparing for me for the past ten years.

What had she foreseen?

I continued reading: [Mr. Hamilton has been planning for me to die in an "accident" for a long time. This way, he could legally take over the last of my shares and install his pregnant mistress as his legitimate wife.

[I've been holding on to buy you time and to make the final arrangements for you.

[After I'm gone, Mr. Hamilton will surely forge a will, claiming to be the sole heir to everything I own. He'll liquidate every last bit of my "estate." If you're still in Dislinton as my trusted maid by my side, he definitely won't spare you.

[He'll use any means necessary to extract anything he believes I might have left you, and he might even make you vanish from this world.

[So you have to "get lost" in the most disgraceful way possible. Ensure everyone believes you and I have become bitter enemies.]

So that was why she did this.

It turned out that she asked me to go back to my small town, not because of hatred, but to protect me.

Tears welled up again, but this time, they weren't for me but for Catherine.

She sacrificed her own life to play one last role for me.

The final paragraph of the letter was written with such intensity that the pen nearly cut through the page.

It read: [Norah, listen. These are my final and most crucial commands.

[First, never return to Dislinton. Never have any contact with anyone from the Hamilton family again.

[Second, forget about being a maid. From now on, you're the owner of these properties, a wealthy woman, and a true socialite. Go live the life you deserve, and enjoy everything that's rightfully yours. You've earned this.

[Third, and most importantly, don't trust anyone too easily. Be especially cautious around a man named Victor Shaw.

[He's Mr. Hamilton's top henchman, cold-blooded and ruthless. If he finds you back home, don't panic. I've set up one last trump card for you.

[Go to Boslanville, to the study in your apartment in Finslyn Borough. The safe's password is your birthday. Everything you need is inside.

[Keep living, Norah. Carry my hopes and make it through.]

The letter ended right there.

I clutched the paper, my whole body going cold.

Catherine was really gone.

She gave up her life so I could live.

Outside the window, I could faintly hear Remy and the others gossiping.

"Look at her. She must have been a plaything for others and discarded once they got bored," one person said.

"Yeah, she thought she could climb the ladder, but in the end, she got nothing for it," another added.

Those words sounded bitterly ironic now, yet I felt a sense of relief.

It was this perceived "disgrace" in their eyes that provided me with the perfect camouflage at that moment.

I slowly folded the sheets of paper and slipped them back into the bottom of the box, along with the property deeds.

I stood up and moved toward the window, staring at those smug faces outside.

My expression shifted gradually.

Sadness faded into calm, which then transformed into a cold, steely resolve.

I hoped Catherine could rest in peace.

I wouldn't let her down.

From this moment on, maid Norah Zamora was gone for good.

As someone who survived all this, I was ready to reclaim everything that was rightfully mine.

I turned around and grabbed the oldest Nokia phone next to the suitcase.

Catherine had given it to me for the journey, pressing it into my hand before my departure.

At that moment, it was my sole means of communication.

I scrolled through the contacts and found a number labeled "John Parker."

This was the lawyer Catherine had mentioned in her letter, the one she trusted most back in our home country.

I dialed the number.

The phone rang for what felt like an eternity before someone finally answered, their voice cautious and weary. "Hello?"

"Is this John Parker?" I asked, my voice a bit raspy.

"Yes. Who's calling?" he asked.

I took a deep breath and recited the secret code Catherine had given me in her letter. "I'm Norah Zamora. The emerald is broken."