Chapter 4 - The Shadow in the Nursing Home
Three days later,
I drove to the outskirts of the city to see my father.
The nursing home was quiet,
smelling of floor wax and faded memories.
My father,
Arthur,
sat in a wheelchair by the window,
watching the birds in the garden.
He looked so frail,
a shell of the man who had built an empire from nothing.
"Sarah?"
he whispered,
his eyes clearing for a moment as I sat beside him.
"Where's Eleanor?
She usually brings me my tea."
"She's busy, Dad,"
I said,
swallowing the bile in my throat.
"We need to talk about the business."
He nodded vaguely,
his mind drifting back into the fog.
I brought out the papers the lawyer had prepared.
"I need you to sign these,
Dad."
"It's to protect Chloe’s future."
He looked at the documents,
then at me,
a flicker of his old intelligence returning.
"She's a good girl,
Chloe,"
he murmured.
"Looks just like your mother."
He signed the papers with a shaky hand,
effectively removing Eleanor as the primary beneficiary of his estate.
Everything would now go into a trust for Chloe,
with me as the sole executor.
I felt a small sense of victory,
but it was quickly overshadowed by a sense of dread.
As I walked back to my car,
I saw a familiar black SUV parked in the lot.
Julian was sitting in the driver's seat,
watching me.
I didn't run,
I didn't hide.
I walked straight up to his window.
"What are you doing here?"
I asked,
my voice cold as ice.
He rolled down the window,
his face looking haggard and unshaven.
"She's gone, Sarah,"
he said,
his voice trembling.
"Eleanor?"
"She took the money from the condo account and vanished,"
he laughed,
a high,
manic sound.
"She realized you would find out about the transfers,
so she cut her losses."
"She left me with nothing."
I looked at him,
and for the first time,
I felt nothing but disgust.
"She never loved you, Julian,"
I said.
"You were just a tool for her,
just like I was."
"She wanted the money,
and you were the one who could get it for her."
Julian leaned his head against the steering wheel.
"She has the eye,
Sarah,"
he whispered.
"I have to see it every time I look in the mirror."
"I have her eye,
and she has mine."
"It's a curse."
"It's what you deserve,"
I replied,
stepping back from the car.
"The police are looking into the bank transfers,
Julian."
"And I've already filed for divorce."
"You'll be lucky if you don't end up in a cell next to her if they ever find her."
He looked at me with a desperate plea in his eyes,
but I didn't stay to hear it.
I drove away,
leaving him in the parking lot of the man he had helped betray.
But as I checked my rearview mirror,
I saw him following me.
He wasn't going to let go that easily.
The obsession that had fueled his affair with Eleanor was now turning toward me.
A dark,
unpredictable rage was growing in him,
and I knew that the nightmare wasn't over yet.
I tapped the steering wheel,
my heart racing.
I needed to get Chloe and get out of the state.
May you like
But when I arrived home,
the front door was wide open.
