Chapter 2 - The Fall Nobody Could ExplainThe first sound Isabella heard was a woman's sobbing.
The second was the frantic voice of an emergency physician.
“Stay with me. Isabella, open your eyes.”
Her eyelids fluttered.
White ceiling.
Crystal light.
Faces.
Too many faces.
She tried to move.
Pain exploded through her shoulder.
A scream tore from her throat.
“Don't move!”
Someone restrained her gently.
She blinked until the room came into focus.
Her father stood beside the sofa.
His face looked twenty years older.
Nathan was there too.
Helena was crying.
Arthur was praying silently.
And Celeste stood several feet away.
Perfectly still.
Isabella stared at her.
Celeste's face was pale.
“Celeste…”
Her sister stepped forward.
“Yes?”
“You…”
Isabella swallowed.
“You pushed me.”
The entire room fell silent.
Celeste's eyes widened.
“No.”
Isabella struggled to breathe.
“You pushed me.”
“I was trying to stop you from falling.”
“That isn't true.”
Richard looked between them.
“Enough.”
Isabella stared at him.
“Dad, she pushed me.”
Richard's jaw tightened.
“Everyone saw what happened.”
“No, they didn't.”
“They saw you lose your balance.”
Isabella's heart stopped.
“What?”
Richard looked away.
Nathan stepped in.
“There was a waiter standing behind you. He said you turned too quickly.”
Isabella felt sick.
“No.”
She remembered the hand.
The grip.
The shove.
She remembered Celeste's eyes.
But memories could be distorted after a head injury.
Perhaps.
Perhaps not.
The doctor arrived with an assistant.
“Miss Vale has suffered a concussion and a fractured wrist. Fortunately, there is no sign of a spinal injury.”
Isabella looked at her father.
“I need to know what happened.”
“You fell.”
“Celeste was behind me.”
“Yes.”
“Then why is everyone saying I slipped?”
Richard's expression hardened.
“Because that's what happened.”
Isabella stared at the people around her.
Something was horribly wrong.
She slowly looked toward the staircase.
A dark smear remained where her blood had struck the marble.
One of the steps had a tiny object lying near it.
A silver cufflink.
She recognized it.
Nathan wore silver cufflinks tonight.
Her gaze snapped to his wrists.
One cufflink was missing.
Nathan noticed.
His expression changed.
“Isabella…”
Before she could respond, Celeste spoke.
“It was mine.”
Everyone turned.
Celeste reached into her clutch.
She produced a silver cufflink.
A matching one.
“I borrowed Nathan's jacket earlier. It must have fallen.”
Nathan stared at her.
“I didn't give you my jacket.”
Celeste smiled.
“You did when you went outside.”
“I never went outside.”
Silence.
Isabella slowly pushed herself upright.
“You're lying.”
Celeste's face remained calm.
Richard intervened.
“That's enough.”
“No!” Isabella shouted.
Her voice cracked.
“You're all lying to me.”
Helena began crying again.
Nathan knelt beside Isabella.
“I'm not.”
Isabella looked at him.
“Then tell me why the blue folder was missing.”
Nathan froze.
“What folder?”
“The blue folder from Father's study.”
Nobody answered.
That was answer enough.
Isabella saw Arthur glance toward Richard.
Then Helena.
Then Celeste.
Every face in the room seemed to close at once.
Richard finally said:
“There was no folder.”
“You're lying.”
“I said there was no folder.”
“But Arthur told me—”
She stopped.
Arthur was gone.
A terrible realization moved through her.
She looked toward the hallway.
“Where is Arthur?”
Nobody responded.
A security guard entered.
He whispered something into Richard's ear.
The patriarch's face changed.
“What?”
The guard repeated himself.
Richard looked furious.
“Seal the east wing.”
Nathan stood.
“What happened?”
Richard ignored him.
Isabella's pulse accelerated.
“Dad?”
Richard finally looked at her.
“Arthur has disappeared.”
The room went silent.
Then the security alarm began screaming.
A guard came running.
“Sir!”
“What now?”
“We found blood in the study.”
Isabella felt cold.
“How much?”
The guard looked at Richard.
“Enough to suggest someone was seriously hurt.”
No one spoke.
Then Isabella noticed something on Celeste's red dress.
A tiny dark stain.
Not champagne.
Blood.
Isabella stared at it.
Celeste noticed.
For the first time that night, fear appeared on her face.
And Isabella realized something even worse.
May you like
The fall had not been the beginning.
It had been the cover-up.
