Page 98 of The Stolen Queen

“As was I.” Henry inhaled hard. “My God. Charlotte. All these years, lost.”

Charlotte collected herself as best she could, unable to process the latest revelation. There were still more questions to be asked.

“So you stayed in Geneva?”

“I started a small gallery. Although I financed it by selling some of the smuggled goods, I vowed from then on I would be aboveboard in my dealings.”

“How honorable of you,” she said dryly. “Was it in Geneva that you acquired your new family?”

He flinched. “Heba, who was living in Geneva at the time, came on as my business partner, and we fell in love and then she became pregnant.”

Which meant Mona was Heba’s daughter. She wasn’t Layla.

Charlotte had the sensation of falling off a cliff, only to find herself suspended in midair. “Mona is not our daughter?”

Henry blinked. “No. Of course not. To be honest, it made me sick, the idea of having another child. It brought up so many memories, and eventually I told Heba that I’d been married before. That I’d had a daughter before. She was furious, and moved back to Cairo to open a shop while I stayed in Geneva.”

Which explained why Heba didn’t admit to knowing Henry/Darius after being shown the photograph in the Farid Gallery. No doubt Charlotte’s presence had dredged up all kinds of resentment and hurt.

“Although the galleries shared the same name,” continued Henry, “we ran them as separate entities—Heba insisted on that. Mona visited me during the summers and I tried to be a good father, but it was hard from that distance. Then, after she married Karim, she became more strident about her Egyptian heritage, about the corruption in the antiquities trade. She became even angrier at me.”

“How did she know Leon?”

Henry grimaced, as if the memory hurt physically. “Several years ago, I went to Cairo and took her out to dinner. We ran into Leon, who, unbeknownst to me, was working with Ma’at by then.” There was a short pause. “To think the same man who’d served prison time for smuggling antiquitiesoutof Egypt was now involved with an illegal organization trying to smuggle them backin. In any event, it kills me that I was the reason for their connection.”

“And at one point, you went to Luxor to confront him.”

“Yes. I knew Mona was putting herself in danger and I tried to warn her, which resulted in a blowup in the lobby of the Winter Palace Hotel. I confronted Leon at his apartment and told him to keep away from Mona, which didn’t do much good at all. Now Mona’s gone and taken Heba down with her. It should be me in that Egyptian jail cell.”

Henry’s bad decision all those years ago had wreaked disaster after disaster. At the same time, Charlotte’s own parents had lied to her, taking away her chance of closure, although any rage directed their way was wasted. They were long gone, having taken the secret to their graves.

As for Henry, he would remain tortured the rest of his life. There would be no peace for Henry.

But maybe there would be for Charlotte. It was time.

“What about Layla?”

“What about her?” Henry genuinely looked confused.

“What happened after you went up to the top deck of the ship?”

“You don’t know? Of course you don’t. I explained it in my letter.” He walked to the edge of the rooftop and then back to Charlotte, his fists clenched. “The letter that your parents never showed you. What a heartless thing to do.”

“Please. Tell me now.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Annie

Annie watched the scene between Charlotte and Henry with a heavy heart. Around them, the city fanned out in every direction, but for some reason the sounds of traffic and car horns didn’t reach the roof of the Met; all was silent other than the hiss of the wind and the words of Charlotte and the man she’d once loved. Annie knew it was wrong to follow them, but she didn’t trust Henry and wanted to be there for Charlotte in case she needed her.

Henry took a deep breath, his face stricken. “I’m so sorry, Charlotte. They told me Layla died.”

Charlotte held very still but otherwise betrayed no emotion. “Did they find her body?”

“No. There was no body.”

“Then how do they know for sure she’s gone?”