Chapter 2
I sent Serena, Catherine, and Marcus to separate rooms.
No shouting.
No audience.
People coordinate lies faster when they can hear one another breathing.
Then I sat beside my mother.
“Tell me from the beginning.”
Victoria looked toward the open bedroom door.
“Not the beginning.”
Her voice was hoarse.
“Start when you left.”
Fair.
My overseas trip was supposed to last twelve days.
It became nineteen after a dispute with one of our shipping partners.
During the first three days, everything appeared normal.
Then Marcus moved into my study.
By day five, Catherine began attending household dinners.
By day seven, she wore Victoria’s pendant.
I stared.
“How did she get it?”
My mother looked ashamed.
“He took it while I slept.”
My jaw tightened.
“Who?”
“Marcus.”
Of course.
Victoria confronted him the next morning.
That was when the story changed.
He told staff she had become confused after missing medication. He said she was accusing people of theft and seeing threats that did not exist.
Then he stopped giving her the medication consistently.
Not poison.
Not complicated.
He simply controlled whether her mind stayed clear.
The unopened prescription packages on the floor suddenly looked worse.
“He made you look confused by withholding the medicine used to keep you stable.”
“Yes.”
“Then used the confusion as proof you couldn’t be trusted.”
My mother nodded.
Simple.
Efficient.
Cruel.
“How long were you tied to the bed?”
“Three days.”
I closed my eyes.
She corrected herself.
“Mostly.”
That word hurt.
“Mostly?”
“When visitors came, they untied me.”
There it was.
Performance again.
My mother appeared frail but comfortable when selected relatives visited. The restraints vanished. Fresh food appeared. Catherine sat beside her like a concerned in-law.
Then the visitors left.
The dresser went back across the door.
I looked at the folder.
“You took these photographs how?”
Victoria’s mouth lifted faintly.
“Marissa.”
The longtime housemaid.
Still loyal.
Good.
“Where is she?”
My mother’s expression changed.
“Gone.”
My blood went cold.
“What do you mean gone?”
“Marcus sent her away four days ago.”
“Why?”
“She saw him give Catherine my pendant.”
Another witness removed.
Another piece of the house cleaned before I returned.
May you like
Except Marcus had not expected me today.
That was why the bedroom still looked like the truth.
