Chapter 11 - The Twin Portrait
The grand ballroom of the Morrison estate downtown was
filled with soft classical music and soft-spoken billionaires.
Clara moved through the crowd in her midnight-blue dress, her heart beating furiously beneath her ribs.
She spotted Arthur standing near the mahogany bar, holding a champagne flute and smiling charismatically at the press.
He looked completely identical to Julian, perfectly executing the role of the grieving, heroic father.
Clara slipped past the security guards and made her way toward the VIP private lounge behind the ballroom stage.
According to Julian's instructions, she needed to locate the private vault behind the grand gallery display.
She pushed open the heavy double doors into the dark gallery room.
Hanging on the center wall was an identical copy of the portrait of Julianne.
Clara approached the painting, remembering the hidden mechanism Julian had mentioned earlier.
She pressed her palm against the golden bottom corner of the heavy wooden frame.
The frame clicked loudly, and the entire canvas swung outward like a hidden door.
Behind it was not a steel safe, but a second oil painting concealed in the dark alcove.
Clara gasped as she shone her small penlight on the hidden canvas.
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The woman painted on the inner canvas was not Julianne at all.
It was Clara herself, painted years before she had ever set foot in the Morrison mansion.
