Chapter 4
At the hospital, I got seven stitches.
Seven.
One for every year I had spent trying to convince myself Adrian’s family was only “difficult.”
Maya sat beside me with blood on her sleeve from holding Lila.
“She had a baby down there,” she whispered.
My stomach twisted.
“The little girl?”
Maya nodded.
“Her name is Sophie.”
I looked through the glass wall at Lila’s room.
Doctors moved around her.
She looked half alive.
But alive.
“What happened?”
Maya wiped her face.
“Lila was a housekeeper for Eleanor. She got pregnant. Eleanor said Lila was trying to trap Harold.”
I froze.
“Harold?”
Maya nodded.
“Eleanor’s husband.”
My mouth went dry.
Harold had been sitting at my table demanding monthly payments while his child and that child’s mother were locked in my basement.
My condo had a basement level used for wine storage and old building utilities.
Adrian handled that area after we married.
He told me the locked room held climate equipment.
I believed him.
God help me, I believed him.
Detective Rachel Stone arrived after midnight.
She was calm.
Direct.
Tired in the eyes.
“Claire, I need to ask about your property access.”
I told her everything.
The locked door.
Adrian’s key.
Eleanor’s frequent visits when I traveled.
Harold claiming he hated stairs but somehow always disappearing downstairs.
Detective Stone listened without blinking.
Then she placed photos in front of me.
My signature appeared on medical supply orders.
My name on caretaker payments.
My account listed for basement renovations.
All forged.
“They were setting me up,” I whispered.
Maya squeezed my hand.
May you like
Detective Stone nodded.
“If Lila died, this room was meant to look like yours.”
