Chapter226 She Stands With Her Daughter, No Questions Asked
Arabella looked at her sister.
Whatever small hope she'd had of reconnecting after so much time apart drained away and left something flat and cold in its place.
Evelyn followed her sister's gaze down to the nightgown and smiled wider. Deep in her eyes, barely hidden, was something that looked a great deal like smugness.
She had worn it on purpose.
Arabella had Dominic, the Lancaster name, the house, all of it. But Dominic had always loved Evelyn. Always. If they had met first, none of this would have gone to Arabella. The title of Lancaster's wife should have been hers.
Dominic came through the front door behind them and read the room in an instant.
He saw exactly where his wife's eyes had landed.
His stomach dropped.
He stepped forward quickly and cleared his throat.
"Arabella, your sister didn't pack much when she came. I figured you two are family, so I told her to help herself to a few things."
His voice got quieter with every word under the weight of Arabella's stare.
Arabella said nothing. Just a flat, unreadable sound of acknowledgment.
It was enough to make Dominic quietly exhale.
The four of them settled onto the living room sofas. The silence was thick.
Evelyn scooted close to Arabella and looped her arm through hers, warm and familiar, as if there had never been any distance between them at all.
Then her eyes filled with tears.
"Arabella," she said, voice breaking. "Ariana is all I have. She's had such a hard life. I know what she did was wrong, but she wasn't thinking clearly. She made a mistake."
She let the tears spill over.
"You're my sister. Ariana is your niece. Can't you just ask Miranda to drop the charges? Please. Just let her come home."
Arabella had sat down willing to try. Willing to catch up, ask how her sister had been, maybe find some of what they used to have.
She hadn't even opened her mouth before Evelyn launched into this.
Whatever remained of that willingness disappeared.
She slowly withdrew her arm and turned to face her sister.
"Evelyn," she said, her voice completely level. "Ariana didn't make a mistake. She tried to kill my daughter."
"I'm not dropping anything. And there's nothing more to discuss."
Evelyn's tears kept falling.
Dominic watched and felt the familiar pull of old loyalty.
"Arabella, that's a bit extreme," he said. "Miranda came out of it fine. No lasting harm done." He sat forward, using the tone he reserved for negotiations he expected to win. "Here's what I think. Miranda withdraws the complaint. Ariana gets out. We put her on a plane the same day, and she doesn't come back. Clean resolution for everyone."
He knew how to handle Arabella and Miranda. Push too hard and they pushed back. Offer a compromise that sounded firm, and they usually came around.
Evelyn didn't love the idea of shipping her daughter overseas, but getting Ariana out of a cell was the priority. She could figure out the rest later.
She nodded quickly, wiping her face.
"Yes. Yes, I agree. As long as she comes home first, I swear you'll never see her again. Arabella, please."
She reached toward her sister again.
"I don't agree."
The voice was quiet and completely certain.
Miranda had been sitting beside her mother through all of it without saying a word. She hadn't looked at Evelyn once. The woman meant nothing to her. Less than nothing, once she had learned the truth about her and Dominic.
She looked up now, and her gaze moved from Dominic to Evelyn, stopping there.
"Ariana belongs in prison," she said. "That's where she'll stay."
No room for negotiation. No softness. Everyone in the room felt it.
Evelyn's grief curdled into something uglier.
She stared at Miranda with open hatred, her reddened eyes burning.
She hated Miranda. She hated Arabella. She hated that Arabella had everything she had always wanted, a good husband, a beautiful daughter, a life that kept winning.
Her nails dug into her own palm hard enough to hurt. She welcomed the pain and wished it was Miranda sitting where she was instead.
"Arabella, please, just listen to me..."
Arabella stood up.
"I just got off a long flight," she said, looking down at both of them with an expression that had gone very distant. "I'm going upstairs."
She didn't look at Dominic.
She didn't look at Evelyn.
She turned and walked to the stairs without another word.
The message was clear enough without one.
She was on her daughter's side. Fully. Without conditions.
Evelyn sat on the sofa and watched Arabella disappear around the landing. Her carefully maintained face had gone dark.
--
Upstairs, Miranda caught up to her mother and took her hand, steering her gently toward her own bedroom.
"Mom," she said, keeping her voice light. "The master suite needs to be aired out properly before anyone sleeps in it. You're staying in my room tonight. We haven't shared a bed in forever."
She was not going to let her mother sleep in that room. Not after Dominic and Evelyn had been in it.
And the truth about the two of them was going to have to come out soon. Not all at once. Carefully. Her mother deserved to know, even if knowing would hurt.
Arabella smiled and squeezed her hand.
"Alright. Whatever you say."
She glanced toward the dark window as they walked.
"It's late. Why isn't your brother home yet?"
Miranda's chest tightened.
She kept her face easy and her voice exactly the same as usual.
"Big project at work. He's probably still at the office." She guided her mother to sit on the edge of the bed and continued smoothly, "He's been staying at a place near the office lately. Says it saves time on the commute and he can actually get some rest. You know how he is."
Arabella relaxed visibly.
"That sounds like him. He works too hard. I hope he's eating properly."
Miranda smiled until her mother stopped watching her.
Then she reached up and touched the left side of her face where it was still tender from Dominic's hand.
She wasn't done with that.
Not even close.