Chapter 3 - The Ice Sculpture Wasn’t What It Looked Like
The giant ice block had been commissioned as the centerpiece for the Carter Foundation winter gala.
Officially, it was called Frozen Legacy.
Vivian chose it herself.
The artist had designed a huge crystal-clear outer sculpture around a transparent insulated display chamber.
Normally, the center held rare orchids.
The internal cavity remained above freezing.
Safe for flowers.
Safe enough for a human being to remain briefly without direct skin contact with ice.
That explained why Lily was physically unharmed.
It did not explain how she got there.
Or why.
The gala staff told Ethan the chamber was supposed to contain flowers.
Vivian had sent everyone away from the ballroom twenty minutes before guests arrived.
“Final presentation adjustment.”
Her words.
Security footage from the ballroom had been disabled for eighteen minutes because Vivian claimed the lighting technicians needed access to the ceiling circuits.
Convenient.
Too convenient.
The ice artist was horrified when Ethan contacted him.
“You put a child inside?”
“I didn’t.”
“Who had access?”
The artist gave him three names.
His own.
The event manager’s.
Vivian’s.
Vivian had personally requested an emergency-release opening be concealed behind decorative ice panels.
She said it was necessary to swap floral displays.
That mechanism was how Lily had been placed inside without injury.
And it was almost certainly how Caroline had been placed inside something similar before.
The question was no longer whether Vivian had built a dangerous stunt.
May you like
It was why.
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