Elara, if you testify, I’ll get rid of Sienna for good. I’ll send her away, and you’ll never see her again.”
My eyes were red, but a sad smile touched my lips. “There’s no need.”
His hand on my shoulder went rigid. “You’d rather watch me with her, day after day, right in front of your
face?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
SLAP!
The sting of his hand across my cheek was white-hot. His fist trembled uncontrollably. “You’re truly pathetic,
Elara! Pathetic!”
His words hit me like another slap. The Damian I once knew, would never have said such a thing. Back ir
school, when boys made fun of my looks, he’d used his fists to make a dozen of them apologize. After we were married, he never let me cook, fussing over the smallest cut on my finger like it was a mortal wound.
I truly believed we would go on like that forever. That he would always protect me.
“Damian…” I whispered, my voice hoarse.
He spun around, a flicker of hope in his eyes.
I tried to stand, but a sharp, stabbing pain shot through my chest and I collapsed. The image of Lily dying in front of me flashed through my mind. I clutched the fabric over my heart, gasping. When I looked up, I saw the front door creak open.
Sienna had never left.
She peered at me through the crack, a smug, predatory look in her eyes. She pressed a single finger to her lips in a universal sign for silence. Shhh.
‘What were you going to say?” Damian pressed, waiting.
I shook my head.
He stepped closer. “You were about to say something. I know it.”
“Mr. Ashford,” Sienna called from the doorway.
Damian froze but didn’t turn away from me. He was still waiting.
I glanced at Sienna’s tense expression, then reached into my pocket and pulled out a box of condoms, hold-
ing it out to him. “Don’t forget this.”
A dark, humorless laugh escaped Damian’s lips. He snatched the box and threw it in my face before stormi-
ng out.
Sienna closed the door for him, a satisfied smirk on her face as she watched my unspoken words die on my lips. The door slammed shut, leaving me in the echoing silence.
3/8
16:06
Chapter 1
I slumped against the wall, my hand clutching my chest.
Not yet… Just a little longer. I have to wait a little longer.
16.06
I searched through room after room in the enormous estate before I found a small first-aid kit to patch mys- elf up.
A month passed. Damian never came home.
Then one day, the front door was kicked open with a thunderous crash. Damian charged in, carrying a blood- soaked Sienna in his arms. Behind him was a team of private medical professionals.
The team had originally been for me, for my poor health. But after Lily died, he’d sent them away.
Damian paced anxiously outside the room where they worked on Sienna, his ears tuned to her pained cries. He spotted me and dragged me forward. “Why did you push her?”
I stared at him, confused.
“Did you know she was over a month pregnant? Did you do this to her on purpose?”
My eyes widened as I looked toward the room. Sienna’s brows were only slightly furrowed; she didn’t look to be in much pain at all, but her screams were blood-curdling.
Her eyes met mine, filled with a silent threat.
A slow smile spread across my face. “Yes. What of it?”
Damian froze, searching my expression. “Do you have any idea what you’re admitting to?”
“I do.”
“You’re not even going to try and defend yourself?”
“There’s nothing to defend.”
“Once you confess, I’m pressing charges. Assault.”
I stiffened, my gaze locking with his.
He stared back, his eyes boring into me. “Or… you tell me the truth about what happened to my sister, and I’ll let this go.”
I glanced toward Sienna’s room. I took a deep breath. “You’ll find out.”
Hope flickered in his eyes.
“But not now.”
His grip on my shoulders tightened, his eyes turning red. “What is your relationship with that murderer? You’d
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16:06
