Chapter 3 - Isabel’s Warning“What kind of questions?”
Megan sat on the edge of the hotel bed.
Brody slept inside the portable crib.
Isabel whispered from somewhere inside the mansion.
“When you leave.”
“When I leave where?”
“The house.”
Megan’s stomach tightened.
“He asked what days you stay with your sister. What things you take. Whether you ever talk about moving.”
“Why?”
“He never told me.”
“Anything else?”
A pause.
“He asked if Brody sleeps in the mansion every night.”
Megan stared at the wall.
“Why would he care?”
“I don’t know.”
Isabel’s voice became even quieter.
“But he cared.”
Megan suddenly remembered something.
Three weeks earlier, Colton had asked whether she planned to take Brody to visit relatives for the entire month of July.
At the time, she thought he was trying to be helpful.
He even offered to pay for the flights.
She had declined.
Now the memory felt different.
“Has he asked you to lie?”
“Not yet.”
“Not yet?”
Isabel breathed out.
“He called me after you left.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me if anyone asks, I should say the stair gate was removed because you asked me to clean it.”
Megan closed her eyes.
“That’s a lie.”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell him no?”
“I said I did not remember.”
“Why?”
“Because I was afraid.”
Megan understood.
Isabel had worked for the Hartleys for seven years.
Her housing stipend came through the family.
Her health insurance too.
Colton knew that.
“Do not risk yourself for me.”
Isabel’s voice cracked.
“A baby fell.”
Megan looked at Brody.
“I know.”
“I should have put the gate back.”
“You were following instructions.”
“I knew it was wrong.”
Megan did not answer.
That sentence would become important to more than one person in the months ahead.
The next morning, Mrs. Hartley arrived at the hotel.
Megan almost refused to see her.
Then she changed her mind.
Mrs. Hartley entered carrying no entourage.
No lawyer.
No Colton.
She looked tired.
“I found the gate.”
Megan crossed her arms.
“In the basement?”
“Yes.”
“Did Colton tell you why?”
Mrs. Hartley’s jaw tightened.
“He said the house had visitors.”
“And that made Brody’s safety optional?”
Mrs. Hartley flinched.
“No.”
Megan let the silence sit.
Mrs. Hartley continued.
“I spoke to Isabel.”
Megan’s eyes sharpened.
“Did Colton?”
“He tried.”
“What happened?”
“She left the house early this morning.”
“Quit?”
“I don’t know.”
Megan’s phone buzzed.
A message from Isabel.
I AM SAFE.
I WILL NOT CHANGE WHAT I SAW.
Megan relaxed slightly.
Mrs. Hartley noticed.
“Was that her?”
Megan did not answer.
Mrs. Hartley sat.
“I need you to understand something.”
“No.”
Mrs. Hartley blinked.
“What?”
“I spent fourteen months understanding everybody in your family.”
Megan’s voice remained calm.
“I understood when Colton didn’t want Brody’s toys in the living room.”
Mrs. Hartley looked down.
“I understood when he called himself a babysitter instead of Brody’s stepfather.”
“He was adjusting.”
“I understood when he told me not to put family pictures with Brody in his office because clients didn’t know he had a child.”
Mrs. Hartley looked up.
“He said that?”
“Yes.”
Megan continued.
“I understood every excuse.”
She pointed toward Brody.
“I’m done.”
Mrs. Hartley sat very still.
“Are you leaving Colton?”
Megan stared at her.
“I don’t know what marriage is left.”
Mrs. Hartley closed her eyes.
For the first time, she looked less like the authority who had entered the mansion shouting—
and more like a mother terrified of what her son might actually be.
Then she said something strange.
“You cannot move Brody out of the house yet.”
Megan’s entire posture changed.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m not telling you to return to Colton.”
“That sounded exactly like what you said.”
Mrs. Hartley shook her head.
“This is about the trust.”
Megan stared.
“What trust?”
Mrs. Hartley’s face changed.
She realized she had said too much.
“What does my son have to do with your trust?”
“Megan—”
“What does Brody have to do with your money?”
Mrs. Hartley stood.
“I need to speak to counsel before I explain anything.”
Megan laughed in disbelief.
“My baby fell down the stairs yesterday and suddenly there are lawyers and trusts?”
“It is not connected.”
Megan looked at her.
Mrs. Hartley looked away.
That was enough.
“It is.”
“No.”
“You’re lying.”
“I am trying not to give you incomplete information.”
“Then give me complete information.”
Mrs. Hartley picked up her handbag.
“I will contact you.”
Megan stepped between her and the door.
“Does Colton know?”
Mrs. Hartley stopped.
Megan repeated—
“Does your son know Brody is connected to your trust?”
Mrs. Hartley’s silence answered.
Megan stepped aside.
Mrs. Hartley left.
Ten minutes later, Megan received a text from Colton.
Interesting conversation with Mother?
Megan stared.
He already knew.
Then another message arrived.
You should be very careful before you make permanent decisions about where you and Brody live.
Megan’s hands became cold.
The fall had happened yesterday.
May you like
But whatever Colton was thinking about—
had started long before Brody reached the staircase.
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