Chapter 122. Shadow on bedside

Chapter 122. Shadow on bedside
The night was long and cruel. The rain went against the windows, and the old mansion groaned like a living thing. Vera was not sleeping. His eyes were swollen, his mind was haunted by the words written in the cursed desire of Francis. Rearring within a year. It looped her head like a whisper from hell.
Under the hall, Raymond shook in his room. He heard his unconscious groaning through the half-and-half door and in a hurry, immersed his heart in fear. He was awake, struggling to sit, dripping sweat from his eyebrow.
"Raymond," he whispered, running away from his behalf. "You should not move."
His voice was weak but sharp. "Why are they saying that you have lied about our child?" His heart stopped. She froze, unable to speak. "who told you that?"
He gently turned his head towards him, his yellow face turned with injury. "Khabar, Vera. Even my nurse was whispering. Is this true?"

Tears filled his eyes. "No, of course not. You know me. You know us."
But doubt in his eyes stabbed deeper than any knife. "Then why are they saying that Francis has paid for your treatment? Why would he do it - if-"
"Because he wanted control!" She cried, her voice exploded. "He wanted to give everything, our happiness too. Now don't let him win."
Raymond drowned back in the pillow, breathing loudly. His chest rose and unevenly fell. "Vera," he said softly, "I am tired of fighting ghosts."
He held his hand tightly. "Then fight for me. For us. Please."
He closed his eyes, but before falling lame again, his hand tightened around him. For a moment, he thought he slipped, and nervousness seized his chest. "Raymond!"
He was weakly stirred up. "I'm still here," he whispered.
She sat next to her for hours, listening to her breathing rhythm. His mind ran. The world was falling around them. Juliet had already claimed half the empire, and now she was attacking Vera's children, her name, her name.
By the morning, the mansion was full of reporters, who shouted outside the gates. The guard tried to push them back, but the noise reached every window.
Vera went down the stairs, his body was trembling. One of the maids ran to him. "Madam, the lawyer is here again. He says it is necessary."
His chest tightened. He chased her to study, where the lawyer waited with two envelopes. His face was serious. "Mrs. Raymond, I am afraid that things have become more complicated."
"Are they more than this already?" He asked bitterly.
He put the envelope on the table. "Juliet filed a petition. She is contesting your situation as a successor, and she is presenting evidence that your child cannot be valid under the terms of Will."
Vera's stomach turned. "He is lying."
"I am confident that you, but the board and don't press." He used to hesitate before adding, "There is more. The section you have found - a remarriage requires - it is spreading. People are calling it the 'curse of the widow.'

Vera circled, circling the edge of the desk. "He is not going to die." The lawyer sighs. "For your sake, let's pray that this is true."
He dismissed her and went back. Raymond was sleeping again, his face was yellow, his breath was shallow. She sat on the edge of the bed and brushed her hair gently.
"You promised me forever," he whispered. "Don't break it now."
Hours passed. The sound of rain faded, which was replaced with terrible silence. The house still felt. The nurse went to bring the drug, and the guard changed the shift.
Then Vera heard it- a soft, almost invisible sound. A reshuffle of the feet near the door.
"Who is there?" He quietly called.
No answer.
His skin pierced. She slowly stood up and moved towards the door. The corridor was dark, the shadow was long and deep. "Is anyone here?" He whispered again.
She turned to go back - then froze. Someone stood near Raymond's bed.
His breath got stuck in his neck. The figure was wearing dark clothes, half hidden from a mask. He had a white pillow in his hand, which was dangerously pressed close to Raymond's face.
"No!" He shouted, moving forward.
The intruder knocked on a table lamp. The room exploded in glass and light shark. Vera bowed down, holding the attacker's arm. The pillow fell on the floor, but the person shook him hard, and crashed him against the wall.
The pain shot her through her stomach. She started panting, holding her stomach.
The intruder turned to running. Vera stumbled on her feet and shouted for help. The guards later exploded in seconds, but the figure was gone - disappeared through the window at night.
Raymond tried to speak weakly, coughing. She ran back to her, dropped her cheeks down. "You are fine, you're fine, I'm here."
He struggled to open his eyes. His lips went away, but his voice barely whispered.

"Vera ..."
"Yes?" He said, bend near.
He swallowed with hard work, his breath was trembling. "Thomas ..."
The name sent a chill through his bones. "what about him?" she whispered.
Raymond's eyes were open, clouded with pain. "Thomas ... it was that."
She freezes, locks every muscle place. "No Remond, you should be wrong."
But he shook his head weakly. "I looked at him ... before I fell asleep. He was standing at the door."
Vera's pulse raced. Thomas was his most trusted colleague, his advisor, the man who stood by him when everyone was doubted. He cannot follow it.
He tried to breathe while stroking Raymond's hand. "Relax, my love. Don't think about it now." But she could not stop thinking about it.
When the doctors arrived after moments, Vera stepped into the hall, his hands were trembling. The guards were whispering among themselves, searching for the field for intruders.
"Did anyone see who it was?" He asked fast.
A guard hesitated. "Only one shadow, mam. Long. Long. Moving forward. But he ran away from the eastern garden. We found footprints moving towards the rear road."
"Follow them," he said. "Yes ma'am."
As soon as they came out, Vera leaned against the wall, her heart became fast. Thomas. The name echoes in his mind, heavy and sharp. Can this really happen to him?
He thought that he was standing near him all the time, defended him, directed him through chaos. Thought that he could be ... it was unbearable.
She returned to Raymond's room. He was sleeping again, yellow but continuously breathing. He drowned next to him, grabbing his hand.
"Why, Thomas?" she whispered. "Why would you do this?"

The rain started again, tapping against the window like a cruel lullaby. Vera closed her eyes, tiredness was pulling her down. But even in sleep, the voice of that name disturbed him.
Until dawn, she woke up to the sound of soft maps. She in a hurry reached the door - and when she saw a shadow disappeared under the hall.
"to stop!" He shouted and ran after that.
But when he rotated the corner, the hallway was empty leaving a piece of paper lying on the floor.
She leaned to take her, shaking her hands. It was a note, written in Thomas' infallible handwriting.
"Don't look for me. Not yet. Whatever I do is for you."
His vision became blurred with anger and confusion. For me? What did this mean?
She went back to the room, her heart thunder, and saw Raymond, still sleeping, was delicate and unknown.
Tears slipped down from his cheek. The man who was once his biggest ally, was now hidden in the shadows, and Raymond's life was hanging from a thread.
Vera pressed her hand to her stomach, whispering the child inside, "You survive. He will survive. I did not let them destroy them."
But as soon as she returned to the window, lightning was shining - and in that brief burst of light, she saw that a shape was standing outside the gates.
tall. still. Familiar.
Thomas.
He raised one hand in a slow, almost sad wave before disappearing in darkness.
And Vera knew, deep in her soul, that the next time she saw her, it would not be as a friend.