Chapter 6 - UNEXPECTED ALLIANCES
I returned home hours later. The house was quiet.
Elara sat in the nursery, holding Ethan against her chest, rocking slowly. She looked up when I entered, her face pale and drawn, eyes red-rimmed. She stood quickly.
“Is she arrested? Is it over?”
“Vivian is in custody,” I said. “She has been charged with attempted murder and evidence of poisoning has been found. Jared has been released on bail as a cooperating witness.”
Elara exhaled, her shoulders sagging in relief. She reached for me, but I did not step forward. I stood in the doorway, watching her.
“Vivian said something before they took her away,” I told her. “She said you were involved. That you and Jared planned this together. That you told him to hurt Ethan.”
Elara went perfectly still. Her arms tightened protectively around our son.
“And you believe her?” Her voice was quiet, wounded.
“I don’t know what to believe,” I admitted. “She also said you met Jared three times last week. That he has keys to this house. That you knew about the will’s clause.”
Elara set Ethan gently in his crib and walked over to me. She took my hands in hers. Her skin was warm, trembling.
“I met Jared once,” she said firmly. “Not three times. I met him because he called me, terrified, saying Vivian was threatening him. I met him to tell him to go to the police. I gave him nothing. I told him to stay away from this house. And as for the will—Adrian, I never saw it. I never read it. Your father never shared those details with me.”
“Then why did Jared have a key?” I asked.
“Because he stole it months ago,” she answered without hesitation. “I told you he was demanding things. He copied it during a visit before he left for Chicago. I found out and changed the locks—remember? You were away on business.”
I did remember. She had mentioned it in passing. I had not thought twice about it.
“Vivian is trying to survive by any means,” Elara said, tears spilling over. “She knows she faces prison for what she did to your father. She knows she will lose everything. So she names me as her co-conspirator to create reasonable doubt. That is all it is. Lies, Adrian. More lies.”
She looked deep into my eyes.
“Do you truly think I could hurt my own child? Do you think I carried him for nine months, held him every night, nursed him, loved him… and then sent my brother to push him down a flight of stairs?”
“No,” I said. “I don’t.”
But doubt, once planted, takes root. Vivian had been too specific. Too confident. And Elara… Elara had lied about where she was that night. She had hidden Jared’s return. She had kept secrets.
“I want to believe you,” I said. “But Elara—no more secrets. From this moment on. Nothing. Do you understand?”
“Nothing,” she promised. “I swear it.”
May you like
Yet as she leaned her head against my shoulder, I felt her body tense. And when I looked down, her eyes were fixed not on me, but on the doorway. As though someone stood there listening.
Or as though she feared someone might walk through it.
