Chapter 13 - WHAT ETHAN KNEW
Victor refused to bring Ethan to the hospital.
At first.
Then Ethan overheard enough to understand what was happening.
“She wants to talk to me.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
“Dad.”
“No.”
“She knows something.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
Victor stared at his son.
Ethan’s cast had been replaced with a lighter brace.
The bruises were fading.
But Victor knew some injuries did not show on skin.
“She hurt you.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t owe her anything.”
Ethan looked at him.
“I’m not going for her.”
“I’m going for Sophie.”
Victor could not answer that.
Two hours later, they entered Serena’s guarded hospital room.
Victor stood beside Ethan.
Marcus stood by the door.
Serena looked smaller.
No makeup.
No perfect hair.
No designer dress.
Just a pale woman in a hospital bed.
She looked at Ethan.
“Hi.”
Ethan said nothing.
Serena swallowed.
“I’m sorry.”
Ethan stared at her.
“You always said sorry after.”
Serena’s eyes filled.
Victor looked at his son.
That sentence nearly killed him.
Serena nodded.
“I know.”
“Then you did it again.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Serena began crying quietly.
“I was angry.”
“At me?”
“No.”
“Then why hurt me?”
Serena did not have an answer good enough.
Finally she whispered, “Because you were there.”
Ethan’s jaw trembled.
“That’s stupid.”
A broken laugh escaped Serena.
“Yes.”
“It is.”
Ethan looked toward Victor.
Then back.
“What do you want to tell me?”
Serena reached for the silver key on the bedside table.
Victor took it before she could touch it.
“Box number?”
“314.”
“Bank?”
“Lake Federal.”
Victor nodded.
“What’s inside?”
“Videos.”
“Of what?”
“My mother.”
Ethan asked, “Helping you?”
Serena looked at him.
“Controlling me.”
Victor’s expression sharpened.
“How?”
Serena closed her eyes.
“She put cameras in the mansion before I moved in.”
Victor’s blood chilled.
“Where?”
“Nursery.”
“Kitchen.”
“Your office.”
“Ethan’s room.”
Victor stepped closer.
“You had a camera in my son’s bedroom?”
“I didn’t install them.”
“But you knew.”
“Yes.”
Ethan’s face changed.
Serena looked ashamed.
“My mother watched everything.”
“She told me what to say.”
“When to fight with you.”
“When to comfort you.”
“When to make the children look difficult.”
Victor felt sick.
“She was building a custody narrative.”
“Yes.”
“To make me look negligent?”
“And unstable.”
Victor stared.
“What was the endgame?”
“After the wedding, she planned to drug you.”
“Make it look like prescription abuse.”
“Then she would have you declared temporarily incompetent.”
Victor laughed without humor.
“And if that failed?”
Serena looked away.
“She would kill you.”
Ethan whispered, “You knew that.”
Serena nodded.
“And you still stayed?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Serena looked at him.
“Because I thought she was right about your family.”
Ethan frowned.
“You hated us because of Grandpa?”
“Yes.”
“I never met Grandpa.”
Serena started crying harder.
“I know.”
“Neither did Sophie.”
“I know.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“You hurt people who didn’t hurt you.”
Serena nodded.
“Yes.”
Ethan looked at Victor.
“I’m done.”
Victor placed a hand on his shoulder.
They turned.
Serena suddenly said, “Ethan.”
He stopped.
“There’s something else.”
Victor looked back.
Serena whispered, “You weren’t the first child Evelyn used me to hurt.”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Serena looked toward Marcus.
“When I was seventeen, Evelyn made me work at a private home in Boston.”
“There was a little girl.”
“She wanted information from the girl’s father.”
Victor felt dread rising.
“What happened to her?”
Serena’s voice cracked.
“She fell from a balcony.”
Ethan stared.
“Did you push her?”
“No.”
“I swear.”
“Who did?”
Serena looked directly at Victor.
“Evelyn.”
Victor asked, “Why does that matter now?”
Serena took a slow breath.
“Because the girl survived.”
Victor waited.
“And?”
“She grew up.”
“Who is she?”
May you like
Serena answered:
“Nora Hayes.”
