Chapter 8
Victoria’s story hit the press before sunrise.
Billionaire widow missing after hidden estate chamber discovered.
I hated the word widow.
Arthur was alive somewhere.
Hidden again.
Marcus stood at my hospital window, silent.
He had not slept.
Neither had I.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the empty crimson dress.
Detective Stone arrived with news.
“We found Dr. Vale.”
“Alive?” Marcus asked.
“Yes. Hiding at a private clinic in Sausalito.”
My stomach clenched.
“And Arthur?”
“Not there.”
Vale confessed faster than anyone expected.
Not from conscience.
From fear of Victoria.
He admitted helping fake her death.
Admitted prescribing my “prenatal vitamins.”
Admitted forging psychiatric reports.
Admitted holding Arthur Mercer under false medical guardianship for a decade.
But he claimed Victoria moved Arthur two days ago.
Before I hallucinated.
Before the dining room.
Before everything cracked open.
“She knew I was getting worse,” I said.
Detective Stone nodded.
“She may have accelerated the plan.”
Marcus turned.
“What plan?”
Stone looked at both of us.
“She intended to have Elena committed after a staged self-harm episode. You would be blamed for negligence. She would seek emergency guardianship over the baby and full control of the estate.”
Marcus sat down hard.
“The estate.”
“Yes,” Stone said. “Arthur’s trust was never fully transferred because he was alive. Your child’s birth would trigger a review of the inheritance structure.”
I touched my belly.
“So she needed me insane, Marcus guilty, and Arthur hidden.”
Stone nodded.
“And the baby under her control.”
The door opened.
A nurse entered with a folded note.
“This was left at the desk.”
Marcus snatched it.
His face went white.
I took it.
May you like
Victoria’s handwriting.
If you want Arthur alive, bring Elena to the chapel before midnight.
