Chapter 47: THE FALL

Dalton

The camera lens stared at me like an accusation and maybe that was what I deserved after everything I had done.

My hands shook against the hospital blanket but I forced them still because weakness was what got me here in the first place. Weakness and stupidity and blind arrogance that made me think I knew better than everyone who tried to warn me.

"You understand that this testimony will be submitted to the Swiss authorities as part of the investigation into Sienna Ashford?"

"Yes."

Laurent made notes on his pad. "What about Tehila? How did Sienna react to your wife?"

Pain shot through my chest.

"Sienna hated her," I said. "From the first moment I mentioned Tehila's name, Sienna found ways to twist everything. She said Tehila was using the baby to manipulate me. That Tehila was vindictive and unstable and probably sleeping with Cole behind my back."

"Did you believe her?"

"Yes." I looked at the camera. "God help me, I believed every word. Sienna was so convincing and she knew exactly what to say to make me doubt everyone except her."

Morrison moved closer to the bed. "Tell us about your health. When did you start feeling sick?"

"Maybe four months ago," I said. "I could not concentrate at work. I thought it was stress from the thought of the divorce."

"Did Sienna encourage you to see a doctor?"

"No." The memory made my stomach turn. "She said doctors would just prescribe pills that would make everything worse. She said what I needed was rest and someone who understood me."

"What about the tea?" Morrison asked. "Cole mentioned that Sienna made you tea every night."

I nodded. "Chamomile with honey. She said it would help me sleep and calm my nerves. I drank it every night before bed because she insisted."

Laurent looked up from his notes. "Did the tea have a particular taste?"

"Bitter sometimes," I said. "But Sienna said that was the herbs. That bitter things were often the most healing."

Morrison and Laurent exchanged glances and I knew what they were thinking. The poison had been in the tea all along and I had been too stupid to notice.

"Tell us about your grandmother," Laurent said. "How did Sienna interact with her?"

The question hit harder than I expected because Grandmother Estelle had loved me despite all my failures and I had pushed her away for a woman who was slowly killing me.

"Sienna hated her too," I said. "She called Grandmother manipulative and controlling and that I needed to distance myself from them if I wanted to be truly happy."

"Did you distance yourself?"

"Yes." Shame burned in my throat. "I stopped taking Grandmother's calls. I skipped family dinners. When she came to visit I made excuses to leave early. Sienna convinced me that Grandmother was trying to control my life and that real love meant choosing her over everyone else."

Laurent closed his notebook. "Let's talk about the custody video. The recording where you supposedly gave Sienna guardianship of Tehila's baby."

Anger flared hot in my chest. "I never made that video."

"So you did not give Sienna permission to take custody?"

"Never." I looked directly at the camera. "Whatever that video shows, it is fake. Sienna manufactured it the same way she manufactured everything else in our relationship."

Morrison pushed off the wall. "Tell us about the night you collapsed. What do you remember?"

"Not much," I admitted. "I felt worse than usual. Dizzy and weak. Sienna made me tea like always and I drank it. After that everything gets blurry."

"Did Sienna seem concerned when you got sick?"

I tried to remember her face but the memories were fragmented. "She called an ambulance. She cried. She told the paramedics I had been under a lot of stress and maybe had taken too much medication."

"Had you taken medication?"

"Only what Sienna gave me," I said. "She said they were vitamins and supplements to help with the fatigue."

Laurent picked up his recorder and checked the time. "Is there anything else you want to add to your testimony?"

I thought about Tehila sitting in a detention center because of lies I had helped spread.

"I was a fool," I said. "I abandoned the woman who truly loved me for someone who was playing a role. I believed lies because they were easier than facing the truth about myself. I let Sienna poison me physically and mentally because admitting I was wrong felt worse than dying."

Morrison tilted her head. "Do you believe Sienna intended to kill you?"

"Yes," I said without hesitation. "She was just taking her time about it. Making it look natural so no one would suspect. If Tehila had not exposed her I would be dead within months and Sienna would have walked away with my money and my sympathy."

Laurent stood and gathered his papers. "Thank you, Mr. Dalton. This testimony will be very helpful."

He moved closer to the screen to end the call.

"Wait," I said. "There is something else. Something I just remembered."

They both turned back.

"What is it?" Morrison asked.

My mind raced through fragments of conversations and moments I had dismissed as unimportant. Sienna talking on the phone in French when she thought I was asleep, meeting with people she called business associates but never introduced to me, going through my files and asking questions about family trusts and inheritance laws.

"Sienna asked me about Grandmother Estelle's will," I said. "Multiple times. She wanted to know who inherited what and whether the family fortune was protected by trusts or accessible to spouses."

Morrison's eyes sharpened. "When was this?"

"Two months ago," I said. "Right before I got really sick. She was very interested in the specifics of how the estate was structured."

"Did you tell her?"

"Some of it," I admitted. "I did not think it mattered because I was engaged to her and I thought she had a right to know our financial situation."

Laurent exchanged looks with Morrison and I saw something pass between them that made my blood run cold.

"What?" I asked. "What does that mean?"

Morrison walked back to my bed. "It means Sienna was planning ahead. Making sure she knew exactly what she would inherit when you died."

The words hit me because they confirmed what I already knew deep down. Sienna had never loved me. She had loved what I represented. Money and status and access to a family fortune she could drain.

I looked at the camera again and thought about Tehila watching this testimony from her cell. Tehila who had every right to hate me but probably did not because that was who she was.

"I need to speak to Tehila," I said. "Please. I need to apologize for what I have done and tell her something important about Sienna that I just remembered."