Chapter 161
No.1
The hoarse, raw sound of August's question hung in the quiet air of the rose garden.
Elisa, who is this child?
Elisa felt her heart stop beating. A cold, heavy stone dropped into her stomach, pulling all the warmth from her limbs. Her breath caught in her throat,trapped behind a sudden wall of pure panic.
She looked down. Kayden was still crying, her small chest heaving. Bright red blood trickled down her pale knee, staining the white lace of her sock.
The sight of that blood acted like a switch. The paralyzing panic vanished, instantly replaced by a wave of maternal fury so intense it made her vision blur at the edges.
She pulled Kayden tightly against her chest,wrapping her arms around the small body to shield her from view. She lifted her head and met August's stare.
Her eyes were flat and hard, devoid of any warmth or history.
"That is none of your business," Elisa said. Her voice was a low, steady hum, like the sound of a live wire ready to snap.
No.2
August's jaw tightened. The muscles in his neck strained against his collar. He took a heavy step forward on the gravel path, his hand reaching out as if he meant to pull the child from her arms to get a better look.
Before his foot could land, Alastair moved.
He stepped directly into August's path. His tall,broad frame formed a solid wall of muscle and expensive fabric between August and Elisa.
"Take another step, Chambers," Alastair said. His voice was casual, but his shoulders were locked and ready for violence. "I highly suggest you step back."
August stopped, his fists clenching at his sides. The tension between the two men was thick enough to suffocate on.
As the adults' voices rose, Tate, seeing he was no
longer the center of attention and sensing the dangerous shift in the atmosphere, scrambled away from the fallen toys and ran to hide behind his mother's legs.③
From behind Allena's legs, Tate poked his head out.He pointed a sticky finger at Kayden, who was still sobbing into Elisa's shoulder.③
No.3
"Crybaby!" Tate yelled, a nasty grin spreading across his face. "She's just a stupid crybaby!"①
Elisa's blood roared in her ears. She waited for Allena to correct the boy. She waited for a shred of basic human decency.
Instead, Allena let out a soft, breathy laugh. She placed a manicured hand on Tate's head,smoothing his hair.
"Oh, let him be," Allena said, looking at Elisa with a mocking, superior smile. "Kids fight over toys all the time. There's no need to be so dramatic and hysterical about a little scrape."
The final string of Elisa's self-control snapped. The sound of it breaking was almost audible in her own mínd.
She turned to Dr. Blevins, who was standing close by,his face dark with anger. She gently placed Kayden into the older man's arms.
"Hold her," Elisa whispered.
She turned back around. She did not run. She walked with deliberate, heavy steps across the gravel,closing the distance between herself and Allena in three seconds.
No.4
Allena's mocking smile didn't even have time to fade.
Elisa raised her right hand and swung.
The slap sounded like a gunshot in the quiet garden.The impact was brutal. Elisa put the entire weight of her body and years of suffocating rage into the strike.
Allena's head whipped to the side. Her body stumbled backward, her expensive heels twisting on the stones. A bright, angry red handprint bloomed instantly across her left cheek.①
Complete silence fell over the garden. The only sound was the rustle of the wind through the rosebushes.
Allena slowly brought her hand up to her burning face. Her eyes went wide with shock, staring at Elisa as if she had just seen a monster.
Then, she opened her mouth and let out a high,piercing scream.
"You crazy bitch!" Allena shrieked. She lunged forward, her arms flailing wildly, her manicured nails aiming for Elisa's face.
No.5
Elisa did not step back. She planted her feet firmly,her eyes locked on her target. She raised her right hand high into the air, ready to deliver a second,harder blow to the other side of Allena's face.
She never got the chance.
August broke out of his shock. His body reacted before his brain could process the situation. He lunged forward, throwing his large framein front of Allena to shield her.
His hand shot out and clamped down on Elisa's raised wrist.
His grip was a vice of bone and muscle.He squeezed with all his strength, his fingers digging directly into
the ugly, fading bruise on her wrist, a sickening yellow-green reminder of their last encounter at the police station.
A sharp, blinding pain shot up Elisa's arm, traveling straight into her neck and making her teeth click together. The force of his grab jerked her body forward,throwing her off balance.①
"Are you out of your mind?" August roared, his face inches from hers. Spittle flew from his lips. "You attack her like a wild animal in front of a child?"
No.6
Elisa looked up at him. She looked at the man she had been married to for seven years. She looked at the way his broad shoulders completely covered the woman cowering behind him. She felt the crushing pain in her wrist, administered by his hand.
The last, microscopic ember of feeling she had for him turned to ash. Her chest felt completely hollow,scraped clean of anything resembling a heart.⑩
She ignored the throbbing agony in her arm. Her voice was flat, carrying the chill of a morgue.
"Let go of me."
August stared down at her. He saw the absollie,terrifying emptiness in her eyes. It was a look of total erasure. It unnerved him so deeply that his fingers instinctively loosened their death grip by a fraction of an inch.
Elisa yanked her arm back, breaking his hold. She stumbled back half a step, cradling her throbbing wrist against her stomach.
A cold, humorless smile touched the corners of her mouth.
She raised her uninjured hand and pointed a trembling finger toward the heavy iron gates of the estate.
No.7
"I'm done. Take your trash," Elisa said, her voice echoing off the stone walls, "and stay out of my life."She then turned her head slightly to look at her
mentor. "Doctor, please ask your guests to leave."