Page 165 of When Hearts Surrender

She stares at him and lets out a rough exhale.

“I told Mrs. Anderson my ancestors were caretakers of Wraithmoor Abbey before it burned down. But I didn’t tell her that years later, they ended up working for the Anderson family.”

Maxwell snaps his gaze at her, his eyes piercing.

“Yes, your family. One of my great-grandfathers was a groundskeeper when your family rebuilt on top of the land. It was said he witnessed a tragedy so devastating; the image haunted him forthe rest of his life.”

She points to the drawing. “He drew multiple iterations of this scene—the devastated duke who found out the love of his life departed the earth.”

Eleanor motions to the locket burning on top of my chest. “The guilt ate at him, I think. I didn’t tell you before, but the Eternal Devotion locket was found on the estate grounds. My great-grandfather suspected it belonged to the duke, but he wasn’t sure, and the duke was a different man after the tragedy—angry, depressed, volatile. So, he never asked but held onto it. It was then the rumors of a curse started. My great-grandfather thought the curse was borne from heartbreak, but no one could be sure.”

Her words echo in my mind as I open the jeweled locket and read the inscription. Could it have been Emma’s all along? Was it because the locket was imbued with tragedy that I felt an aching sadness when I first saw it? I remember the portrait of Silas in the estate, devastation in his eyes.

More clues and still no answers.

“But he firmly believed the locket would return to its owner one day. That should an Anderson come and claim it, we were supposed to give it back. Years went by and no one came looking for it, so we put it up online, thinking maybe that’d draw some attention to it.”

She looks at me, her lips tipped up in a small smile. “It felt fated when the locket was purchased by an Anderson fromtheAnderson family. And when you came in asking for it, you looked so troubled, and you resembled…” Her voice trails off and she swallows.

“Her. Emma,” Maxwell murmurs, his eyes still snagged on the drawing.

I gasp and grab his forearm. “H-How did you know her name? I-I never told you… That was the name I saw in the letter in my dream. The same name on the envelope in the secret room.”

Maxwell freezes, his face leached of color. “I-I don’t know. I just know the name. Fuck. What the hell,” he whispers. He turns to Eleanor. “Do you know why this is happening?”

Eleanor shakes her head. “I don’t have those answers.” She turns to me. “When you came in, I saw how much you wanted the necklace, but I couldn’t give it to you. And when you told me your husband asked you to pick up a gift…and he was the Anderson who purchased it, I knew it was fated. The necklace returning to its rightful owners.”

Rightful owners.

My breathing is rickety as a chill sweeps through me. I glance up, finding Maxwell with a similar haunted expression on his face.

“This makes no sense,” I whisper in disbelief.

Eleanor coughs as she taps her finger on the glass. “My family has always believed in destiny, that we all have a role to play in this world. And I now know it is my role to give you back the necklace and to tell you the story behind it.”

“How can this be?” The locket, the curse, the visions.Everything.

“My dear, I’ve lived a long life, and there are many things we don’t understand in this world. But we all end up where we’re supposed to be. Every story will have an ending, even one you don’t see coming.”

She sits down, a soft smile on her wrinkly face. “I felt a lightness in my soul when you took back the necklace. And I feel even more certain now as I look at the two of you. My job is complete.”

A burning fire sweeps through me—a sudden revelation. I know where the answers are. Where they had always been, hiding in plain sight, waiting for us to discover them.

I turn to Maxwell. “I need to show you something.”

Chapter 61

“Where are you takingme?” I ask.

Belle is gripping my hand tightly as we approach the door to the stairwell leading to the rooftop garden in the estate. Silas howls in the background, probably chasing some poor creature on the grounds far below.

The ride home from our visit with Eleanor was filled with tense silence, with Belle gnawing on her lip and staring out the windows, clearly deep in thought.

“You’ll see. Things will make sense. I know it. It’s been there all along, waiting for us.”

She huffs out a breath as we climb the spiral staircase, our hurried footsteps echoing against the stone walls.

My blood pulses inside me, a strange tingling appearing in my hands. My breathing quickens—it feels like I’m about to have the floor pulled out from under me. It’s the moment before everything changes.

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