Chapter 127
No.1
The next evening, the sky over Manhattan broke open again, unleashing a violent, freezing downpour.
Elisa sat in the back of a taxi, watching the rain streak across the window. Her phone had buzzed an hour ago. A sterile text from August's lawyer: The requested item has been delivered to the penthouse.
She pushed through the revolving doors of the luxury high-rise, her trench coat damp from the rain. She swiped her keycard and rode the private elevator up to the top floor.
Elisa pressed her thumb against the biometric scanner. The heavy mahogany double doors clicked and swung open.
The moment she stepped into the entryway,her body went rigid.
The air inside the penthouse was wrong. It was thick with the suffocating, heavy stench of expensive Cuban cigars mixed with Allena's signature, cloying, aggressively sweet floral perfume. The moment the scent hit Elisa's receptors, a violent wave of physiological nausea rolled through her stomach. It was a scent profile she had explicitly banned from her home, a direct,chemical violation of her sanctuary.
No.2
Elisa's brow furrowed. She walked slowly into the grand foyer.
Her eyes instinctively moved to the massive, blank white marble wall directly across from the entrance.
She stopped breathing.
For seven years, a massive, two-meter-tall oil-textured wedding photograph had hung on that wall. It was a masterpiece shot by a French photographer, the only physical proof in this sterile apartment that she was the legal wife.
Now,the wall was completely bare.
The heavy metal mounting hooks were exposed.Faint,rectangular dust marks stained the pristine marble, a ghost of the massive frame that had been violently ripped away.
No.3
A cold, heavy knot of dread formed in Elisa's stomach.
She marched into the living room, her high heels striking the floor like a hammer.
Brenda, the head housekeeper,came scurrying out of the hallway holding a microfiber cloth.When she saw Elisa, the older woman physically flinched,her face draining of color.
"M-Mrs. Chambers," Brenda stuttered, her eyes darting nervously toward the floor.
Elisa pointed a shaking finger at the empty marble wall in the foyer. Her voice was a low, terrifying hiss.
"Where is my photograph?" Elisa demanded. "Who gave you the authority to touch it?"
No.4
Brenda swallowed hard, her hands trembling as she clutched the rag.
"It... it wasn't me, ma'am," Brenda whispered,terrified. "Mr. Chambers came by this afternoon.He brought Miss Allena and... and Master Tate to collect some things."
Master Tate. The fact that the staff was calling Allena's spoiled, malicious seven-year-old brother "Master" in Elisa's own home made her blood boil.
"Miss Allena... she told Mr. Chambers the picture made her feel 'unwelcome' in her own future home,"Brenda continued, her voice cracking. "She asked him to take it down. Mr. Chambers... he didn't argue.He just... he ordered them to do it."
The words hit Elisa like a physical punch to the throat.
August had personally escorted his mistress into Elisa's sanctuary and, at her command, desecrated the only symbol of her marriage.
No.5
Elisa forced a sharp breath into her lungs. She locked her jaw.
"Where is the photograph now?" Elisa asked, her voice dropping to a dead, mechanical flatline.
Brenda pointed a trembling finger toward the far end of the apartment, toward the massive glass doors that led to the outdoor terrace.
"They... they are out there," Brenda whimpered.
Elisa didn't say another word. She bypassed the housekeeper and walked straight toward the terrace.
As she got closer to the heavy double glass doors,the sound of loud, obnoxious laughter bled through the thick glass. It was the sound of men drinking and a child shrieking with delight.
No.6
But beneath the laughter, Elisa smelled something else.
Smoke. Not just cigar smoke. The acrid, chemical smell of burning plastic and photo paper.
Elisa's heart hammered violently against her ribs.
She grabbed the brass handles of the glass doors and shoved them open with all her body weight.
A blast of freezing wind, rain, and thick, black ash hit her in the face.
Elisa stepped out onto the terrace, and the scene before her made the blood in her veins freeze solid.