Chapter 4 - THE CHILD WHO WAS ERASED
The little boy hid behind Rachel’s coat.
He couldn’t have been older than ten months.
Rachel held him tightly.
Julian stared as if he were seeing a ghost.
“Rachel?”
She looked at him.
“Hi, Julian.”
His voice shook.
“We thought you disappeared.”
“No.”
She looked at Eleanor.
“I was hidden.”
The guests erupted.
Eleanor straightened.
“You left voluntarily.”
Rachel laughed.
“No.”
Her voice was quiet.
“That’s the story you bought.”
My mother whispered, “Oh my God.”
Detective Hayes stepped toward Rachel.
“You don’t have to speak here.”
“I want to.”
She looked at me.
“You’re Chloe?”
I nodded.
“I’m sorry this happened at your wedding.”
I almost laughed at the absurdity.
“You don’t need to apologize.”
Rachel looked at my belly.
Then at Eleanor.
“She was going to do the same thing to you.”
A chill went through me.
“What?”
Rachel handed the child to a female officer.
Then she removed a small flash drive from her purse.
“After Liam died, Eleanor came to my apartment.”
Eleanor snapped.
“No.”
Rachel ignored her.
“She brought two attorneys.”
“One was there to protect the family.”
“From a pregnant woman?”
Rachel’s jaw tightened.
“She offered me two million dollars.”
The crowd reacted.
“I refused.”
Eleanor said, “You demanded five.”
Rachel’s face went cold.
“No.”
She looked at Detective Hayes.
“That’s when she threatened my baby.”
My stomach tightened.
Eleanor stepped forward.
“You liar.”
Rachel didn’t flinch.
“She told me accidents happen to women who don’t understand their place.”
The words hit me hard.
Because Eleanor had said something similar to me.
Two months earlier.
At lunch.
She had smiled while stirring her tea and said, “Pregnancy can be fragile, Chloe. Stress changes everything.”
At the time, I thought she was being cruel.
Now it sounded like a warning.
I looked at Julian.
“Did you know this?”
“No.”
“Don’t answer too fast.”
“I swear.”
Rachel continued.
“I left Massachusetts that night.”
“Where did you go?” Julian asked.
“To my sister in Vermont.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
Rachel stared at him.
“I did.”
Julian shook his head.
“No.”
“Every week.”
His face changed.
Rachel pulled out her phone.
“I sent emails too.”
Julian looked at Eleanor.
She said nothing.
Rachel continued.
“Then someone broke into my sister’s house.”
Detective Hayes nodded.
“The same week Liam’s life insurance trust was transferred.”
I looked at Julian.
“Transferred to who?”
He swallowed.
“My mother.”
Eleanor raised her chin.
“As trustee.”
Pastor Miller sighed.
“There was more.”
He opened his envelope again.
Eleanor turned.
“Don’t.”
The pastor pulled out a letter.
“Liam came to me two days before he died.”
Rachel covered her mouth.
“He left instructions.”
The pastor unfolded the paper.
“He wanted this read if anything happened to him.”
Eleanor lunged.
“Give me that!”
Detective Hayes caught her arm.
“Enough.”
She jerked away.
Pastor Miller read.
“If I die before Rachel and our child are safe, do not believe my mother when she says it was an accident.”
Julian’s face crumpled.
“Jesus.”
The pastor continued.
“She knows Rachel is pregnant.”
“She knows I intend to marry her.”
“She knows the Sterling trust will pass first to my child if I die.”
I stared at Eleanor.
So that was it.
Not reputation.
Not tradition.
Control.
Liam’s baby threatened her access to the fortune.
My baby threatened it too.
Then the pastor reached the final sentence.
“If something happens to me, ask who benefits.”
Rachel started crying.
Eleanor suddenly laughed.
“You think that proves murder?”
Detective Hayes looked at her.
“No.”
Then he held up the flash drive.
“But this might.”
Rachel nodded.
“I recorded our last conversation.”
Eleanor stopped breathing.
Rachel looked at me.
“She told me exactly what she planned to do to Liam.”
Then the detective plugged the drive into the speaker.
May you like
And Eleanor’s voice filled the rooftop.
“If Liam chooses you, I’ll make sure he doesn’t live long enough to regret it.”
