Chapter 105 Chapter 105
Hailey’s POV
I rushed back to my room, closing the door quickly behind me and locking it. My heart was still pounding from the close call with Louis, from everything I’d discovered in Elena’s room.
I pulled the key from my pocket and looked at it for a moment this small piece of metal that could unlock so many secrets.
I needed to hide it somewhere safe. Somewhere no one would think to look.
I got down on my knees beside my bed, wincing slightly as my pregnant belly made the movement awkward, and felt around underneath until I found a small gap between the bed frame and the floor.
I slipped the key into that space, pushing it far back where it wouldn’t be visible or easily found.
There. Safe.
Now I just needed to act normal. Pretend I’d spent the afternoon resting or exploring the garden, not breaking into sealed rooms and discovering that Elena had known this place wasn’t safe.
I took a deep breath, smoothed down my clothes, and headed to the kitchen where I could hear voices my mother and Benita talking.
“There you are,” my mother said when I walked in. “We were starting to wonder where you’d gone.”
“Just walking around,” I said, which wasn’t technically a lie. “Getting some exercise. The doctor said I should stay active.”
Benita was sitting at the kitchen table, picking at a sandwich she clearly had no interest in eating. My mother stood at the counter, cutting vegetables for what looked like dinner preparation.
“I have news,” I said, lowering my voice even though we were alone. “I overheard Isabella talking to Sophia. She’s leaving.”
“Leaving?” my mother repeated, looking up sharply. “When?”
“Tomorrow morning,” I said. “Going back to Italy. She said the family there needs her, that more elders might be targeted in this war.”
“Good,” Benita said flatly, still not looking up from her sandwich. “One less person here who treats us like we don’t belong.”
“Benita,” my mother said gently.
“What? It’s true,” Benita said, finally looking up. “Isabella has made it very clear from day one that Hailey isn’t good enough for Damien, that we’re all just temporary inconveniences.”
Before I could respond, the kitchen door swung open and Sophia stormed in, her face flushed and angry.
“Did any of you lock my door?” she demanded, her voice sharp and accusatory. “Someone locked me in my room earlier. I was trapped in there for almost thirty minutes before Louis heard me banging and let me out.”
The three of us exchanged brief glances, then went back to what we were doing.
My mother continued chopping vegetables.
Benita took a small bite of her sandwich.
I moved to the refrigerator to get some water.
Complete silence except for the sound of the knife on the cutting board.
“I’m TALKING to you!” Sophia’s voice rose higher. “Someone locked me in! Was it you?” She pointed at me. “Was this some kind of revenge for the tulips?”
More silence.
“Oh my GOD!” Sophia screamed, her voice reaching a pitch that made me wince. “You’re all playing deaf? Really? This is so CHILDISH!”
“We didn’t lock your door, Sophia,” I said calmly, not bothering to turn around. “Maybe the lock is just faulty. Louis said he’d check it.”
“I KNOW one of you did it!” Sophia insisted.
“Believe what you want,” Benita said, her voice cold and flat. “We didn’t touch your door.”
Sophia stood there for another moment, clearly expecting more of a reaction, but when none of us engaged with her drama, she made a frustrated sound and stormed back out.
The moment she was gone, my mother shook her head. “That girl is going to give herself a heart attack with all that screaming.”
“Good,” Benita muttered darkly.
A few minutes later, my mother excused herself to go rest, leaving Benita and me alone in the kitchen.
We sat in comfortable silence for a while, the only sound the ticking of the clock on the wall.
Then Benita spoke, her voice low and intense. “Every time I see Sophia, I feel like putting a bullet through her head.”
I looked at her, shocked by the venom in her tone.
“I know that’s terrible,” Benita continued, staring down at her hands. “I know I shouldn’t feel that way. But I can’t help it. Every time I look at her face, all I can think about is Marco. About how he died because of her schemes. Because she was too jealous and stupid to see she was being used.”
“I understand,” I said quietly. “I feel the same way.”
“Do you?” Benita asked, looking at me with hollow eyes.
“Yes,” I said firmly. “Not only did she put you in danger, not only did she get Marco killed, but she put my mother in danger too. And my unborn child. When those men were hunting us through the house, when we were running and hiding and terrified for our lives, all I could think was that my baby might die because of Sophia’s jealousy.”
Benita nodded slowly. “At least you understand. Everyone keeps telling me I need to forgive her, that she didn’t mean for it to happen. But I can’t. I won’t.”
“You don’t have to,” I said. “Forgiveness isn’t owed. Especially not for something like this.”
We sat together in that shared anger and grief for a while longer before Benita finally stood.
“I should try to sleep,” she said. “Even though I know I won’t.”
“Try anyway,” I said gently.
After she left, I sat alone in the kitchen for a few more minutes, then decided to head back to my room.
A few hours later, I lay in my bed trying to rest like I’d told everyone I would. But my mind wouldn’t stop racing.
Elena’s journal. The entry about this place not being safe. What else had she written? What other warnings or information was hidden in those pages?
I needed to read more. Needed to understand what Elena had known and when she’d known it.
I reached for my phone and called Damien, hoping to check in on him, to hear his voice and maybe feel less isolated.
The phone rang. And rang. And rang.
No answer.
He was probably in his meeting with the elders, dealing with the fallout from another elder’s death. Too busy to take calls.
I hung up without leaving a message and stared at the ceiling.
I needed to get back into Elena’s room. Needed to retrieve those journals and read them properly.
But Louis was on duty, and after our conversation about Benita, he’d probably be paying more attention to my movements.
Watching to make sure I wasn’t causing trouble or stressing myself out.
I needed a distraction. Someone to occupy Louis’s attention while I slipped away.
Benita. She could help me. She could call Louis for something, keep him busy for thirty minutes or so while I went back to Elena’s room.
I got up, determination replacing the exhaustion, and headed toward Benita’s room.
But as I walked down the hallway, I saw someone sitting on the floor at the far end of the corridor, tucked into a corner.
Sophia.
She was hugging her knees to her chest, her face buried in her arms, her whole body shaking with what looked like sobs.