Chapter 1 - WHAT DID YOU SEND?
Elliot Vale already had one hand at the back of Elena’s neck when he drove her into the bathroom mirror.
The glass cracked across the center.
A thin section shattered onto the white marble counter.
Elena caught herself against the sink before she fell.
Pain flashed at her temple.
When she lifted her fingers, there was a small streak of blood near her hairline.
Elliot grabbed her jaw and forced her face toward the broken reflection.
“Look at you—broken and useless.”
Elena stared at herself.
Dark-brown hair.
Cream nightdress.
Bare feet.
One red line at her temple.
Behind her reflection stood Vivian Vale in a burgundy silk robe.
Calm.
Watching.
“Don’t leave any more marks,” Vivian said.
Elena slowly turned her eyes toward her mother-in-law.
Not because the sentence surprised her.
Because it confirmed something.
Elliot released Elena’s jaw, seized her upper arm, and yanked her upright.
“Tonight, I’m putting you in a psychiatric ward.”
Elena said nothing.
He leaned closer.
“Then your money becomes mine.”
Vivian smiled faintly.
Elliot let go and turned toward his mother.
That was when Elena moved.
Her cracked phone lay near the soap dish.
She slid one hand across the counter.
Covered it with her palm.
Tapped once.
The phone vibrated.
Then again.
Then again.
Elliot heard it.
He whipped around.
Snatched the phone.
Looked at the screen.
His smile disappeared.
Vivian stepped closer.
“What?”
Elliot’s hand began trembling.
He looked up at Elena.
“What did you send?”
Elena straightened beside the shattered mirror.
The frightened look was gone.
She touched the thin line of blood at her temple.
Then said:
“The question isn’t what I sent.”
Elliot’s face tightened.
May you like
“It’s who already had it.”
For the first time that night, Vivian looked afraid.
