Chapter 4 - Elena’s Last Message
I reacted before I had time to think.
“The television,” I said.
Kevin looked at the blank screen.
My heart hammered against my ribs.
“It was my phone,” I corrected quickly. “A video started playing.”
The newborn cried again.
Kevin’s expression hardened.
“That came from the garage.”
He moved toward the laundry room, but I stepped in front of him.
“Kevin, we need to talk.”
“Move.”
“No.”
It was the first time in years I had denied him with such certainty.
His eyes narrowed. “What happened while I was gone?”
I needed to keep him away from Sarah long enough for her to escape. I grabbed the first accusation that came to mind.
“I know about Elena Moore.”
Kevin stopped.
For half a second, genuine alarm crossed his face. Then the mask returned.
“I have no idea who that is.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not in the mood for one of your dramatic episodes.”
I had watched him do this countless times. He did not simply deny wrongdoing. He attacked the question itself until I became embarrassed for asking.
This time, I saw the method clearly.
“Elena worked at one of your properties,” I said. “You had a relationship with her.”
“Who told you that?”
“Is it true?”
“Who have you been talking to?”
His voice sharpened. I realized Sarah had been right: he was afraid.
The garage door suddenly rumbled open.
Kevin lunged past me.
I caught his sleeve, but he shoved me aside. My hip struck the kitchen counter. By the time I recovered, he was running into the garage.
Sarah had already backed my car into the driveway. Kevin rushed toward it, shouting her name.
She locked the doors.
The baby cried in the back seat.
Kevin slapped both hands against the driver’s window.
“Open the door!”
Sarah shifted into reverse.
He tried to grab the handle, but she accelerated into the street and drove away.
Kevin stood beneath the porch light, breathing heavily. When he turned toward me, the rage on his face was unlike anything I had ever seen.
“You brought her here.”
“She came on her own.”
“What did she tell you?”
“Enough.”
He entered the kitchen and slammed the door.
“You have no idea what she has done.”
“She told me Grace is your daughter.”
Kevin’s face became motionless.
I waited for him to deny it.
Instead, he walked to the counter and poured himself a glass of water.
“Elena was troubled,” he said eventually. “She became obsessed with me.”
“Is Grace yours?”
“Elena claimed she was.”
“Sarah saw a paternity test.”
“Documents can be manipulated.”
“Then take another test.”
He drank slowly, watching me over the rim of the glass.
“Where is Sarah going?”
“I don’t know.”
“You gave her your car.”
“She took it.”
“Call her.”
“No.”
He placed the glass down.
“You’re frightened and confused. Sarah has spent a year filling her head with Elena’s delusions. We need to handle this before she destroys all our lives.”
“You threw her out because she discovered your affair.”
“I told her to leave because she was blackmailing me.”
The ease with which he lied astonished me.
“You planted my necklace in her bag.”
A muscle moved in his jaw.
“That’s absurd.”
“You arranged my work trip so I wouldn’t be here.”
“I encouraged you to advance your career.”
“You threatened an eighteen-year-old girl.”
“She is not a child.”
“She was my child.”
Kevin moved closer. “And I supported her for twelve years. I paid for her clothes, food, school, and medical care. This is how she repays me.”
The old part of me wanted to step back. The woman who had lived according to Kevin’s moods wanted to apologize for confronting him.
I remained where I was.
“What happened to Elena?”
“I don’t know.”
“Sarah says she disappeared.”
“She ran away because she stole money.”
“From your company?”
His eyes flickered.
I understood then that the financial records mattered as much as the affair.
“Where is the safe?” I asked.
Kevin’s expression changed completely.
“What safe?”
“The one behind the bookcase.”
He grabbed my wrist.
The force shocked me.
“You will not go into my office.”
“Let go.”
“Listen carefully. Sarah is involved with dangerous people. If you help her, you could lose everything.”
“I already lost everything the night you forced her out.”
I pulled away, but his fingers tightened.
Then red and blue lights flashed across the windows.
Sarah had called the police.
Kevin released me immediately.
Two officers approached the front door. Kevin transformed before my eyes. His shoulders relaxed, and his voice became calm.
He opened the door with a concerned expression.
“Officers, thank goodness. My stepdaughter stole my wife’s car and kidnapped an infant.”
“That’s a lie,” I said.
One officer looked at me. “Ma’am, are you injured?”
I touched my wrist. Red marks were already forming.
Kevin glanced at them. “She’s been very emotional.”
“He grabbed me.”
“I tried to stop her from falling.”
I nearly laughed at the shamelessness of it.
The officers separated us. I told one of them everything Sarah had revealed. When I mentioned Elena Moore, he made a note but remained cautious.
“Do you have evidence?”
“My daughter does.”
“Where is she now?”
“I don’t know.”
Kevin spoke from across the room. “Sarah has a history of instability.”
“She does not.”
“She saw a counselor in high school.”
“After her best friend died in a car accident.”
He made grief sound like evidence of madness.
The officer asked for Sarah’s phone number. I gave him the new one she had briefly shown me, praying she would answer.
Ten minutes later, he received a call.
Sarah had driven directly to the police station.
Grace was safe.
Nora had also spoken to investigators from her hospital bed. She confirmed Elena had left the baby in her care and provided copies of several messages.
Kevin’s calm began to crack.
“This is a family dispute,” he said. “You’re wasting resources.”
The officers asked whether he would consent to a search of his office.
“No.”
“Why not?” I demanded.
“Because this is my property.”
The officers explained that they would need a warrant. Before leaving, they warned Kevin not to contact Sarah or Nora.
The moment the door closed, he turned on me.
“You have just made the biggest mistake of your life.”
“No,” I said. “Staying with you after what you did to Sarah was my biggest mistake.”
I went upstairs and packed a small suitcase.
Kevin followed me.
“If you walk out, don’t come back.”
“I’m not planning to.”
“The house is mine.”
“I know.”
“The bank accounts are mine.”
“I know.”
“You won’t get a cent.”
I zipped the suitcase.
“I don’t want your money.”
“You won’t survive a month.”
I looked at the man I had once believed was my protector. His power depended entirely on my fear.
“I would rather struggle with Sarah than spend another night under this roof.”
As I moved toward the stairs, a heavy crash sounded from Kevin’s office.
He hurried past me.
I followed and found him pulling books from the wall.
He was trying to reach the hidden safe.
Kevin glanced at me, then slammed the office door and locked it.
A minute later, I smelled smoke.
He was burning the evidence.
I dialed 911 again.
Kevin emerged carrying a metal wastebasket filled with flames. He tried to reach the back door, but smoke rolled toward the ceiling. The fire alarm screamed.
I grabbed the extinguisher from the kitchen and sprayed it into the basket.
Kevin cursed and dropped it.
Partially burned documents scattered across the floor.
One page landed near my feet.
At the top was Elena Moore’s name.
At the bottom was Kevin’s signature.
And in the center, beneath a list of payments, were the words:
CONFIDENTIAL SETTLEMENT—PATERNITY ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
Sirens approached outside.
May you like
This time, Kevin could not pretend there was nothing to find.
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