Chapter 1 - The Empty Dress
“Elena, put it down.”
Marcus’s voice sounded terrified.
Not angry.
Not confused.
Terrified.
Elena sat frozen on the icy marble floor of the Ashcroft dining room, one hand wrapped around her seven-month pregnant belly and the other gripping a jagged piece of glass.
The sharp edge hovered less than an inch from the skin beneath her ribs.
She could barely breathe.
“Marcus?”
Her husband stood several feet away with both palms raised.
He looked as if one wrong movement might make her explode.
“Elena, sweetheart, look at me.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m not doing anything.”
“You tackled her.”
Marcus’s face tightened.
“Tackled who?”
Elena stared toward the end of the dining table.
Victoria had been standing there seconds earlier.
Her mother-in-law had worn the same crimson velvet dress she always chose when she wanted everyone in the room to feel underdressed.
Elena had watched her lift a crystal decanter.
She had watched Victoria swing it toward her stomach.
She had felt herself falling.
She had heard glass explode.
Except now the twelve-foot dining table stood untouched.
Every wineglass remained perfectly arranged.
The decanter sat in the center beside three white roses.
Nothing was broken.
Nothing except the shard in Elena’s hand.
Her eyes moved toward the chair beside the fireplace.
The crimson dress lay neatly folded across it.
Empty.
No Victoria.
No blood.
No shattered glass.
Elena’s throat closed.
“No.”
Marcus took one careful step closer.
“Elena.”
“No.”
“You’re safe.”
“She was here.”
“I know you think—”
“She was here!”
Marcus stopped.
Elena looked around wildly.
“She hit me.”
Her fingers touched her cheek.
No blood.
No swelling.
Nothing.
“She came toward the baby.”
“Elena, Victoria hasn’t been in this house since yesterday morning.”
“That’s not true.”
“She flew to Boston.”
“No.”
“I watched her leave.”
“No!”
The glass shook in Elena’s hand.
Marcus immediately lowered his voice.
“Okay.”
He crouched slowly.
“Okay, I believe that you saw her.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“I know.”
“You think I imagined it.”
Marcus did not answer.
That silence hurt more than if he had said yes.
Elena looked down at the jagged glass.
“Where did this come from?”
Marcus swallowed.
“The bathroom mirror.”
Her stomach turned.
“What?”
“I found you in the upstairs bathroom about ten minutes ago.”
Elena stared at him.
“You were standing in front of the broken mirror.”
“I was here.”
“No.”
“Yes, I was.”
“Elena, I followed you downstairs.”
“I never went upstairs.”
“You had the glass in your hand.”
“No.”
“You kept saying Victoria was coming for the baby.”
Elena shook her head harder.
“I remember dinner.”
“We never had dinner.”
“I remember sitting right there.”
She pointed toward her chair.
“I remember Victoria pouring me tea.”
Marcus’s eyes flickered.
“What tea?”
“The tea she always makes.”
“Elena.”
“What?”
“There hasn’t been tea on this table tonight.”
A cold pressure spread across Elena’s chest.
She suddenly remembered the taste.
Honey.
Lemon.
Something metallic beneath both.
The exact tea Victoria had insisted was good for pregnancy.
The exact tea Elena had been drinking every evening for nearly four months.
The glass slipped slightly in her sweaty fingers.
Marcus saw it.
“Elena, give it to me.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I don’t know what’s happening to me.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“What if I hurt the baby?”
“You haven’t.”
“What if I do?”
“You won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know you.”
Elena stared into her husband’s face.
For the first time in eight years together, that answer did not comfort her.
Because she no longer knew herself.
Marcus moved forward another inch.
“Give me the glass.”
Elena finally opened her fingers.
Marcus snatched the shard away and threw it beneath the table.
Then he dropped to his knees and wrapped both arms around her.
Elena collapsed against him.
“I saw her.”
“I know.”
“I smelled her perfume.”
Marcus rubbed her back.
“I know.”
“She was talking to me.”
“What did she say?”
Elena closed her eyes.
The memory came back too clearly.
Victoria standing beneath the chandelier.
Victoria smiling.
Victoria whispering one sentence.
Marcus felt Elena’s body stiffen.
“What?”
Elena pulled away from him.
“She said you would believe her instead of me.”
Marcus froze.
Elena stared at him.
“She said eventually I’d make you afraid of me.”
Neither of them spoke.
A grandfather clock ticked in the hallway.
Then Marcus stood.
“We’re going to the hospital.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“If they think I’m dangerous—”
“I’m not asking permission.”
“Marcus.”
“I almost found you holding broken glass to yourself.”
His voice cracked.
“I don’t care what anyone thinks.”
“I care about you and our daughter.”
Elena pressed both hands protectively against her stomach.
The baby moved.
A tiny kick beneath her left palm.
She nearly cried from relief.
Marcus helped her to her feet.
They walked through the enormous dining room without speaking.
As they reached the doorway, Elena looked back.
The red dress remained on the chair.
Something about it bothered her.
Not because it was there.
Because she knew she had seen Victoria wearing it.
Elena stopped.
“Marcus.”
He turned.
“That dress.”
“What about it?”
“Why is it downstairs?”
Marcus glanced toward the chair.
“I don’t know.”
“She keeps it in the west wing.”
“You could’ve brought it down.”
“I didn’t.”
Marcus hesitated.
Then he crossed the dining room.
He lifted the dress.
Something small fell from one of the pockets.
A white plastic capsule bounced across the marble.
Then another.
Then a third.
Marcus bent down.
Elena’s heartbeat began pounding.
The capsules were identical to the prenatal vitamins Victoria had personally given her every night.
Marcus stared at them.
“What are these?”
Elena whispered the answer.
“My vitamins.”
Marcus looked at the crimson dress.
Then at the empty room.
For the first time that night, his expression changed.
He was no longer afraid of Elena.
May you like
He was afraid for her.
And from somewhere inside the wall behind them came the faint sound of a woman laughing.
