Chapter 4 - THE UNWELCOME GUEST
Isabella felt a cold chill run straight down her spine.
She turned slowly toward her massive canopy bed.
Her heart pounded against her ribs like a trapped bird.
Step by step, she approached the bed.
She reached out a trembling hand and pulled back the silk pillow.
Lying on the mattress was a small, ancient wooden box.
It was covered in dust.
Isabella recognized it instantly.
It was the jewelry box that had belonged to her late father.
It had been missing from the family safe for five years.
"How... how did she get in here?" Isabella stammered, looking frantically around the empty room.
She picked up the box.
Inside was a medical report and a faded silver ring.
The medical report was dated three weeks ago.
It bore Isabella's name.
Isabella scanned the text quickly, her eyes widening in horror.
The report claimed that Isabella Vance was suffering from severe psychological breakdown and early-stage early-onset dementia.
"This isn't real..." Isabella muttered, her hands shaking violently.
"I never took this test!"
Attached to the report was a prescription for heavy psychiatric medication.
A note written in neat handwriting was tucked underneath:
The world will soon believe you are crazy, Isabella.
Just like Mother told everyone I was dead.
Enjoy your sanity while it lasts.
Isabella shrieked and dropped the box onto the floor.
She ran out of her room, screaming for the guards.
"Security! Someone was in my room!"
The hallways were completely quiet.
The house guards were nowhere to be found.
She ran down the grand staircase into the living room.
Victoria was sitting on the sofa, clutching a bottle of alcohol.
"Mother! She was in my room! She put something under my pillow!"
Victoria looked up, her eyes bloodshot and unseeing.
"No one was in your room, Isabella," Victoria said in a flat, dead tone.
"The guards have been standing outside the main gate the entire time."
"I saw it! I have the paper!" Isabella yelled, running to show her mother.
When Isabella looked at her hand, she froze.
The wooden box was gone.
Her hands were completely empty.
"What... where is it?" Isabella gasped, looking down at her bare fingers.
"I had it! I was just holding it!"
Victoria looked at her daughter with a mixture of pity and severe frustration.
"Isabella, pull yourself together!"
"The media is outside the gates right now!"
"We don't need you losing your mind on top of everything else!"
"I am not losing my mind!" Isabella shrieked.
At that moment, the front door of the mansion opened.
Julian walked in, followed by two police detectives in dark coats.
"Mother, Isabella," Julian said gravely.
"The police are here."
"Why are the police here?!" Victoria demanded, standing up.
The lead detective stepped forward, holding an arrest warrant.
"Mrs. Victoria Vance, you are under arrest for fraud, falsification of vital records, and human endangerment regarding the disappearance of Seraphina Vance."
Victoria stared at the handcuffs in the officer's hand.
"You can't arrest me! I am Victoria Vance!"
"You have the right to remain silent," the detective said coldly, stepping forward.
Isabella watched in absolute horror as her mother was handcuffed in the middle of their grand living room.
As the officers led Victoria out into the pouring rain, flashing red and blue lights illuminated the windows.
Standing right beside the police cars, holding an umbrella, was Seraphina.
May you like
She looked directly through the glass doors at Isabella.
Seraphina slowly raised two fingers to her lips and blew a silent kiss.
