Chapter 13 - COMING HOME DOESN’T FIX EVERYTHING
Eliza Harlow came home three days later.
But home did not feel like home.
The mansion knew her.
She didn’t know it.
Staff cried when they saw her.
She recognized almost none of them.
Portraits showed a smiling woman wearing her face.
Closets held clothes that fit her body but belonged to a life she couldn’t fully remember.
Her bedroom felt like a museum.
Then Oliver walked in carrying a stuffed dinosaur.
“You sleep here.”
Eliza looked at the enormous bed.
“Did I?”
“Yes.”
He climbed onto it.
“Daddy snores.”
Damian stood in the doorway.
“I do not.”
Oliver nodded seriously.
“You do.”
Eliza laughed.
It surprised her.
Damian smiled.
For one second, the years disappeared.
Then she saw the second pillow.
Her smile faded.
Damian noticed.
“I can move to another room.”
She looked at him.
“You were already sleeping somewhere else, weren’t you?”
He understood.
Before the accident.
“Yes.”
“Because we were fighting.”
“Yes.”
“Because of Celeste.”
“Partly.”
She sat beside Oliver.
Damian didn’t defend himself.
That mattered.
“I want you here,” he said.
Eliza looked up.
“But I’m not asking you to forgive me because you survived.”
“Good.”
“I was selfish.”
“Yes.”
“I liked being admired more than I respected what it did to you.”
Eliza studied him.
“That sounds almost emotionally intelligent.”
“I’ve had a terrible week.”
She smiled despite herself.
Later, federal agents arrested several Harlow executives.
Victoria survived surgery.
She was charged with conspiracy, fraud, obstruction, and multiple financial crimes.
Celeste faced attempted murder, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, assault, and conspiracy.
Dr. Mercer’s records exposed the illegal clinic network.
Eliza spent hours with investigators.
Every memory hurt.
But the hardest moment came that evening.
Oliver had a nightmare.
Eliza ran into his room.
He was crying.
“You left!”
She grabbed him.
“No, baby.”
“You left me!”
“No.”
His tiny fists hit her chest.
“Why didn’t you come home?”
Eliza closed her eyes.
There was no answer a three-year-old could understand.
So she held him.
“I tried.”
He sobbed.
“I tried every day, even when I didn’t know where home was.”
Damian stood outside the room listening.
Eliza rocked Oliver until he slept.
When she came out, Damian was still there.
She looked exhausted.
“He remembers more than I thought.”
“He used to wait by the front window.”
Her face crumpled.
“Don’t tell me that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“He thought I chose not to come back.”
Damian stepped closer.
“He never stopped believing you would.”
She looked at him.
“And you?”
He swallowed.
“I had to.”
“Had to what?”
“Stop believing.”
Eliza looked away.
“I understand.”
That hurt him more than anger.
Then his phone rang.
Marcus.
Damian answered.
“What?”
Silence.
His expression changed.
Eliza watched him.
“What happened?”
Damian slowly lowered the phone.
“They searched Celeste’s apartment.”
“And?”
“They found videos.”
“What kind?”
His face went pale.
“Videos of Oliver.”
Eliza stood.
“Recent?”
Damian nodded.
“Celeste had someone watching him for months.”
May you like
Eliza’s blood went cold.
Then Damian added, “And one video was recorded yesterday.”
