I probably should’ve faked three corpses just to make sure he stopped. Because that’s the thing about Elias–until he sees a body, he won’t believe it’s over.
Later, he got hurt in one of the crossfire. Broken ribs, a fractured arm. Spent weeks in a wheelchair.
I thought he’d stop then. Thought maybe the pain would slow him down.
But once he healed, he kept going.
Jose saw Elias was nothing more than a joke, asking me if I wanted to make him feel worse.
I said I don’t care.
1/2
So Jose did it. He gave Elias the security footage–proof that Harper had locked our children in the basement. That she’d starved and hi them. The proof of Harper lying to his face.
And Harper was the one who had fabricated my death. Lied for months so Ellas wouldn’t come looking for me.
And the cherry on top? The thugs in the mall?
That was her too. She hired them. Promised them Elias’s money. Told them to kill me.
His perfect, innocent little angel.
I wondered how he took it–learning the truth.
Did he cry or scream or finally realize how wrong he’d been?
Would he hate her now or hate himself even more for ever doubting me?
I thought life would stay peaceful.
Until the day I picked Tessa up from school–and saw a man lurking by the gates.
It wasn’t until I got closer that I realized who it was.
“Noa?” he said.
Elias. But barely recognizable.
His once–perfect face was marked with scars, his eyes hollowed, sunken from months of damage. Even his outstretched hand trembled as it reached for me. He was still dressed like the man I once knew, but everything else about him was fractured, weary and wrecked.
I didn’t respond.
So he turned his focus on Tessa instead, crouching down, forcing a smile. “Is this my Tessa? Daddy misses you, sweetheart. Come give Daddy a hug…” Tessa immediately stepped behind me, clutching the back of my coat. “Mommy…” she whispered, wide–eyed.
She didn’t run to him.
She remembered. What he let happen. How he let Harper hurt her. And like the smart little girl she is–she wanted nothing to do with him.
I smiled and bent to lift her into my arms.
“How about you rest in the car, baby?” I murmured. “Mommy just needs a quick word with this man.‘
I kissed her forehead and settled her in the backseat, locking the door before I turned to face Elias again.
He was on his knees now, sunk into the dirt, looking up at me with eyes filled with something–regret? Despair? It didn’t matter anymore.
“Long time no see, Elias,” I said, casually.
“You… didn’t die?” he stammered, his voice a hollow shell. “The twins–where’s Marco?”
“Where Marco is,” I said coldly, “is none of your business.”
He swallowed hard. “I–I came to bring you home.”
“Home?” I echoed, a cruel laugh leaving my lips. “You mean that place? Where your precious Harper locked my children in a basement? Where you hung her wedding photo in my bedroom? That home? That was never mine, Elias. And it never belonged to my children.”
“Noa, please…” he rasped. “After I learned what she did–I got rid of her. I couldn’t live with it. I couldn’t look at her after that. Look–look, I recorded it, in case you didn’t believe me…”
He pulled out his phone and pressed play.
In the video, Harper was strung up by her wrists in some underground room, tied to a ceiling beam. Her body was a mess of bruises and blood, her screams echoing as Elias’s guards whipped her.
