Chapter 6 - The Bottom of the Stairs)
"Ethan."
Beatrice's voice echoed through the entrance hall.
He stood below the staircase.
"Move away from him."
Beatrice looked down.
Noah was crying hard now.
"Dada."
Ethan's heart twisted.
"I'm right here, buddy."
He started up.
Beatrice tightened her grip.
"Stop."
Ethan stopped.
"What do you want?"
"You leave."
"What?"
"You leave Seabrook. You withdraw any challenge to the trust. You sign the guardianship papers."
Ethan stared at her.
"You kidnapped my son from his room."
"Don't be theatrical."
"Let him go."
Beatrice looked at Noah.
"He should never have been part of this family."
Ethan climbed another step.
"Don't."
Beatrice's eyes snapped toward him.
"I said stop."
He stopped again.
For several seconds they stared at each other.
Then Beatrice said, "Olivia destroyed everything."
"No. You did."
"You don't understand what she took from me."
"Money?"
"My life."
"Seabrook was never yours."
"It should have been."
Ethan saw Nora appear quietly in the hallway behind Beatrice.
He kept his eyes on his mother.
"What happens now?"
"You sign."
"No."
Beatrice laughed.
"You think that document in your pocket protects him?"
Ethan felt the folded certificate against his chest.
"It protects him from you."
Her face changed.
Nora was almost close enough to reach Noah.
Then a floorboard creaked.
Beatrice turned.
Nora froze.
Everything happened at once.
Beatrice shoved Nora away.
Nora struck the banister.
Ethan ran upward.
Beatrice grabbed Noah.
The little boy screamed.
Then, in a burst of rage, she kicked toward him.
Noah lost his balance.
Ethan saw his son tumble.
He ran down.
The front door opened behind him as a security guard, alerted by Nora earlier, entered the mansion.
Ethan barely noticed.
He reached Noah at the bottom.
"NOAH!"
He lifted him.
Noah cried against his chest.
Relief nearly dropped Ethan to his knees.
The child was frightened.
Shaken.
But conscious.
Beatrice descended the stairs.
She looked at Noah and said the words Ethan would hear forever.
"That little bastard got exactly what he deserved."
Ethan turned.
His palm struck her cheek.
Beatrice fell.
The security guard shouted Ethan's name.
Ethan ignored him.
He reached into his coat.
"Let's see whose name is on this paper."
He threw the trust certificate down beside her.
Beatrice looked at it.
Her face turned white.
Ethan crouched without lowering Noah.
"You spent sixteen months trying to erase him."
Beatrice said nothing.
"You forged a paternity report."
Her eyes widened.
"I found Olivia's box."
That landed harder than the slap.
Beatrice whispered, "Where?"
"You don't get to ask questions anymore."
Ethan pulled out his phone.
He pressed play.
Her own voice filled the entrance hall.
If Ethan believes the boy belongs to someone else, he will do what men like him always do.
Beatrice stared at him.
Nora covered her mouth.
The security guard went still.
Ethan stopped the recording.
"I have twelve of them."
For the first time, Beatrice looked afraid.
Then she smiled.
A strange, desperate smile.
"You think recordings save you?"
Ethan frowned.
Beatrice looked toward the staircase.
"Olivia thought that too."
Ethan's blood ran cold.
"What does that mean?"
Beatrice pushed herself onto one elbow.
"You want the truth about your wife?"
Ethan stepped closer.
"What did you do?"
Beatrice's eyes filled with something between triumph and madness.
"I didn't have to do anything."
The sound of sirens approached outside.
Nora had called emergency services.
Beatrice continued.
"Olivia destroyed herself."
"You're lying."
"Ask the hospital."
Ethan's hand tightened around Noah.
"What am I supposed to ask?"
Beatrice smiled.
"Ask who changed the medication in her chart the night before the procedure."
Ethan stopped breathing.
May you like
Then Beatrice added the sentence that opened an entirely new nightmare.
"And ask why the doctor's signature belongs to a man who had been dead for eight months."
