Chapter 7
“Elise’s mother is dead?” The words barely made it past my lips.”
Then, my voice trembled as I mumbled, “How is that possible? I only meant to scare her… I never stopped her mom’s medication..“} Before anyone could respond, the door burst open, and the atmosphere shifted instantly.”
A woman rushed in, halting everyone in their tracks.
She was a wreck. Her face was streaked with tears, her voice raw and broken.}]
“Louis, you’ve finally woken up, but our baby is gone! It was Elise–she bribed the driver to kill me and the child. You have to avenge us!“> My stomach twisted.
The sight of her was… horrific.
I instinctively recoiled, everything in me screaming to put space between us.
I couldn’t deal with this–not now.
“Who the hell are you?” I snapped, my voice sharp, confused, and laced with revulsion.
It was Nicole, but not the woman I remembered.§
She
was burned beyond recognition, her body covered in scars, skin melted in places like wax left too close to flame.} Her voice, raspy and raw, scraped against my nerves.§
She must have seen the fear and disgust in my eyes, but she didn’t stop.
Nicole pushed through her panic, forcing out the words.
“Louis, it’s me… your Nicole. This is all Elise’s fault. She did this to me. Now I have nothing left but you…“}
The words landed like a slap.
She looked horrifying.
I swallowed the bile rising in my throat and tried to steady myself. “Don’t worry. I’ll get you the best doctors. We’ll fix this.“>
Nicole nodded, but her broken expression was trying so hard to draw me in. “Louis, I believe in you.“}]
Before I could say anything else, my grandfather interrupted us.
“Miss Sutton, you keep claiming you were carrying Louis’s child, but why was the child you miscarried blonde with blue eyes? I wasn’t aware the Anderson family had any blonde genes.”}
Nicole’s face reddened with embarrassment, and she stumbled over her words. “Well… my great–grandmother was blonde. Genes can skip generations, right?”
My grandfather didn’t seem convinced. He motioned to the butler to step forward, who handed me a folder.
“Sir Louis, during your coma, we had a paternity test done on you and Miss Sutton’s child. The results show that the child has no biological relation to you.”
Nicole went white as a ghost at that.
I could see panic in her eyes.
She bolted, trying to escape, but the bodyguards stopped her cold.“]
The butler wasn’t done.
He handed me another folder, this one looking more damning than the last.
“Sir Louis, this is an investigation into Miss Sutton’s past fifteen years.”}]
I flicked through the pages, each piece of information making my head spin. My eyes finally landed on an article about a dance competition Nicole won ten years ago.”
“This date,” I said slowly, trying to make sense of it, “is the day I fell off the cliff. Nicole, you said you saved me, but why were you participating in a competition overseas?“}
My grandfather, who had been watching quietly, looked surprised. “Louis, the person who saved you was Elise. I saw her carry you back from the bottom of that cliff myself. I would never have agreed to your marriage if it hadn’t been for her saving your life.“>
Everything was clicking into place, but before I could fully process it, Tessa Green, Elise’s mother’s nurse, was brought in. She was trembling, clearly terrified.}
“It wasn’t me. I swear,” Tessa said, struggling to keep her voice steady.
“A woman named Nicole told me it was Mr. Anderson’s order. She had a voice recording of him saying to stop Mrs. Jefferson’s medication. She claimed to be his wife. Even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn’t have dared act on my own.“>
I turned my gaze to Nicole.
The room felt like it was closing in.
Nicole couldn’t meet my eyes. She dropped to the floor, waving her hands frantically.
“No. That wasn’t me. Really, it wasn’t. Don’t look at me…”
But it was too late.
The bodyguards had already found the audio on her phone.
Nicole had recorded my voice when I threatened Elise and used it to twist the truth and target Elise’s mother.}
I gazed at her, but my eyes held no tenderness or sympathy this time.
“Nicole,” I said, my voice cold, “How many more things are you hiding from me? How many lies have you told? Was anything you said ever true?”
Louis’s POVE
