Priya's research uncovered additional sketches. A low cabinet, a dining table with an elegantly hidden extension, and a chair whose frame allowed a damaged seat to be replaced without discarding the entire piece all bore Daniel's initials. Not every design had reached production, and several had been modified by other talented engineers over the years. Still, the connection was unmistakable. Some of Sterling Living's most durable successes began with a young designer who now spent his afternoons restoring other people's furniture for modest fees.
Victoria asked legal counsel to review the documentation before she took any action. The company's ownership of production rights was not automatically invalid simply because the designer had never received public recognition. She wanted to distinguish what the company was legally entitled to do from what it might fairly choose to acknowledge. She also knew that surprising Daniel with a public announcement could turn a private life he valued into another story he had not agreed to have told.
When she visited his workshop that Friday, she brought only a small copy of the earliest sketch. Daniel was repairing the drawer of a walnut sideboard and had a pencil behind one ear. He welcomed her, poured tea, and asked whether the chair had settled properly in her sitting room. She said it had, then placed the drawing on the table between them.
Daniel's hand stopped above the teapot. He did not touch the paper immediately. When he finally picked it up, his expression changed with a slowness Victoria had not seen before, as though he were watching a door open onto a room he had deliberately kept locked.
"Where did you get this?" he asked.
"Our archive. We traced the design back to Alden & Rowe."
He turned the page over, although there was nothing on the back. "I haven't seen this version in years. I thought the original drawings were gone when the firm closed."
"You made it?"
"I did the first design. Other people improved it before it went into production. One of the engineers changed the drawer mechanism, and he was right to."
Victoria leaned forward. "We still sell a version of this cabinet. It's one of our oldest successful lines."
"I know."
The answer surprised her. "You knew?"
Daniel looked toward the workshop window. "I saw one in a store years ago. I recognized it before I saw the brand. Claire wanted to photograph me standing beside it, but I wouldn't let her. At the time I was too angry about how things ended."