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43
ELENA
The door to my room opened with a soft squeak, announcing my new visitor’s arrival.
It was the person I’d least expected.
“Mum?”
“Oh, Elena.” She raised a shaking hand to her mouth, crossing over to my bed and sinking down next to me. “I would never have forgiven myself if something had happened to you.”
Behind her, I watched the door ease open again, slowly and carefully, avoiding the squeak, and I returned my gaze to my mother, watching out of the corner of my eye as two figures slipped into the room. One was so familiar to me that I’d recognise him anywhere, and the other, I’d never seen in my life, yet from the glimpse I allowed myself, I could see his uniform, and I knew.
He was here for my mother. I knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
My heart and mind were torn in two, but I was certain in my beliefs now. Blood wasn’t always thicker than water.
“Tell me what happened, Mum. I just want to understand.”
She crumpled, and it broke me. My brainknewthat everything she’d done was wrong, but my heart still loved her.
“Please.” A tear ran down my cheek, falling to the sheets.
Reaching out, she placed her hand over mine. “You scared me with what you said on Friday. Telling me that you were going to tell the Ashcrofts everything, and no matter how hard I tried to make you see sense, you wouldn’t budge from your position.”
“I’d already told you that I was against your position before that. I tried to tell you to stop then, but you didn’t listen.”
“You were wrong.” Shaking her head, she stared down at the blanket covering my legs. “You were wrong then, and you were wrong on Friday. That’s why I did what I had to.”
“What did you do?”
Her eyes were full of tears as she met my gaze. “I never meant for you to get hurt. You were never supposed to be there. I…I knew your mind was made up. You’d given me until Sunday, and I needed to make the Ashcrofts pay. I contacted Pike—”
“You contacted the loan shark that you already owe thousands of pounds to? What made you think that would be a good idea?” I couldn’t even hope to dial back the anger in my voice.
“Elena. Darling. I was running out of options. You wouldn’t want your last remaining family member to end up in prison, would you?”
My fists were clenched so hard that I was ninety percent sure that I’d drawn blood where my nails were digging into my palms.
“What did Pike do?” I asked instead of answering her question.
She stared at the wall, lost in her memories. “Of course he wanted more collateral. I gave him everything of mine that Maria had given me. Don’t worry—I didn’t touch anything of yours.”
“You gave him your clothes?”
Something shifty entered her gaze, and I didn’t like it. “Yes. Maybe…okay, look, I might also have liberated a few items from Maria’s jewellery collection.”
“What?” I gasped. I’d completely forgotten that anyone else was in the room—my entire focus was directed at my mother. “You stole jewellery from the woman who showed more generosity towards us than anyone I’ve ever met in my life?”
“Please, Elena. They’re rich. This means nothing to them. Maria won’t even notice that some of it is missing.” Swiftly brushing the tears from her cheeks, she straightened up. “I contacted Pike, and once we’d agreed on a sufficient payment, he arranged for one of his associates to give Anthony Ashcroft’s car a little nudge. It was supposed to be simple—I knew he was meeting Maria and Josephine for brunch at the country club, and he was going to have a little accident on the way. Then you came along and messed everything up.”
“What was your plan?” I forced the question out, despite the fact that I wanted to scream or punch something. “Did you want to kill him?”
She laughed, and it was a laugh that I’d never heard from her. It was a laugh that chilled me to the bone.
“I wanted him to pay. Injured or dead—either would have been acceptable to me.”
Something inside me snapped, an irreparable break. The pain was indescribable, tearing me apart, but I held it at bay, pushing back against the wave with everything I had. I could succumb to it later, when I’d carried out the final part of my plan.
