Chapter 70 Chapter 70
Hailey’s POV
I walked out of my room, textbooks tucked under my arm, ready for another day of studying. But before heading downstairs, I decided to check on my mother.
I knocked softly on her door and heard her call out for me to come in.
When I opened the door, I was surprised to see her unpacking her suitcase, the one she’d kept packed and ready by the door for the past week.
“Mom?” I said, confused. “What are you doing?”
She looked up at me, her expression a mixture of determination and resignation. “I can’t bring myself to leave you in hell,” she said simply. “I tried. God knows I tried to convince you to come with me. But if you won’t leave, then I’m staying.”
Relief and happiness flooded through me, and I moved to hug her awkwardly with my one arm. “Thank you,” I whispered. “I know this isn’t what you want, but thank you for staying.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” Barbara said, pulling back to look at me seriously. “Because soon we’re going to be walking around with bulletproof vests on. This war with the Morellis is only going to get worse.”
Before I could respond, Benita appeared in the doorway. “Hailey, come on. Your tutor is here and he’s waiting.”
“I’ll talk to you later, Mom,” I said, giving her one more quick hug before following Benita out.
As we walked down the hallway toward the sitting room where we’d been studying, Benita leaned in close. “Your mom is really intense,” she whispered. “But I kind of love her. She doesn’t take shit from anyone.”
I smiled despite my nervousness about the day ahead. “Yeah, she’s pretty fierce when she needs to be.”
Tyler was already set up in the sitting room, his heavy bag on the floor beside him, textbooks and notes spread out on the coffee table. He looked up when we entered and smiled.
“Good morning,” he said cheerfully. “Ready to tackle some more coursework?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I said, settling into my usual spot on the couch.
Benita sat beside me, and we started going through the material Tyler had prepared. But almost immediately, something felt off.
Tyler kept getting up and excusing himself to go to the bathroom. The first time, I thought nothing of it. Maybe he’d had too much coffee that morning. But when he came back and then left again twenty minutes later, and then again after that, it started to feel strange.
And worse, every single difficult question or complex problem seemed to be directed at Benita. While I got relatively easy review questions, Benita was being bombarded with advanced calculus problems and complicated economics theories that even I struggled with.
After the fourth bathroom break and what felt like the hundredth difficult question thrown at Benita, she finally snapped.
“Is there a problem?” she asked Tyler, her voice tight with frustration. “Because you keep leaving every five minutes, and you’re giving me all the hardest questions while Hailey gets the easy stuff.”
Tyler’s expression flickered with something I couldn’t identify before he forced a smile. “No problem at all. I just thought you might want the challenge. You seemed pretty advanced when we studied yesterday.”
“Well, I don’t want the challenge,” Benita said sharply. “I want to actually understand the material, not feel like an idiot.”
“I’m sorry,” Tyler said quickly. “I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. Let’s adjust the approach.”
But even as he said it, he was gathering his things. “Actually, you know what? Let’s take a break. Clearly we all need to reset.”
“Tyler,” I said, unable to keep the frustration out of my voice. “I don’t appreciate whatever you’re doing. If something’s wrong, just tell us.”
“Nothing’s wrong,” he insisted, but his eyes wouldn’t meet mine. “I promise. I just think we all need a breather.”
Benita stood up abruptly, her face flushed with anger and embarrassment. “Fine. I’m taking a break.”
She stormed out of the room, and I watched her go with concern. This whole morning had been weird, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that Tyler was deliberately trying to frustrate Benita and drive her away.
But why would he do that?
“I’m going to check on her,” I said to Tyler, starting to stand.
“Take your time,” he said, already pulling out his phone like he was checking messages.
I headed toward Benita’s usual spot, but as I got closer, I heard her voice, low and urgent, coming from around the corner. She was on her phone, and from the tone, I could tell she was talking to Marco.
“I don’t care what Sophia needs you for,” Benita was saying. “I need you here. Something feels wrong about this whole situation.”
I paused, not wanting to interrupt what was clearly a private conversation. She deserved a moment to vent to Marco without me hovering.
Instead, I decided to go to the kitchen and get some snacks. Maybe some food would help settle everyone’s nerves.
I walked down the hallway toward the kitchen, my mind still turning over Tyler’s strange behavior. The bathroom breaks, the way he was treating Benita, the odd tension in his demeanor.
As I rounded the corner into the kitchen, I stopped dead in my tracks.
Nina, the household manager who was always so efficient and alert, was lying on the floor near the counter. Her eyes were closed, her body completely still.
And beside her, two guards were also on the floor, collapsed in unnatural positions.
A gasp tore from my throat, loud in the quiet kitchen.
“Nina?” I called out, my voice shaking. “Nina!”
I stumbled forward, dropping to my knees beside her, my good hand reaching out to check for a pulse with trembling fingers.