Chapter 12 - The Unexpected Visit
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That night, my sister-in-law, Elodie, came to my apartment.
I almost did not let her in. It was not because I blamed her entirely for the humiliation, but because I simply could not bear the thought of another Arden standing in my doorway, armed with excuses wrapped tightly around their own self-interest.
Through the peephole, she looked remarkably younger than she had at her wedding, even though only twenty-four hours had passed. Her hair was pulled into a messy, frantic knot, her expensive bridal makeup was gone, and her eyes were severely swollen from crying.
She held a small, silver flash drive tightly in one hand.
“I know I absolutely don’t deserve to be here,” Elodie said, her voice muffled through the heavy door. “But I have something you need to see.”
I slowly unlocked the door and opened it.
She stepped inside and immediately began crying heavily. “I’m sorry. Isla, I am so sorry. I should have stopped it from happening. I knew Mom was planning something petty with the seating chart, but I honestly thought it was just her being cruel. I swear I didn’t know anything about the stolen money. I didn’t know about the condo deed. I didn’t know Bianca was secretly being paid through your company.”
I believed some of that. Not all of it. Silence has many complex layers. Some people remain silent because they truly know nothing. Others remain silent because acknowledging the truth would require an action they are too terrified to take.
Elodie had grown up trapped in Genevieve’s house. She had been rigorously trained to survive by hypersensitively noticing moods and desperately avoiding explosions. That conditioning did not excuse her silence, but it perfectly explained the shape of her fear.
“What’s on the drive, Elodie?” I asked, gesturing to her hand.
“The wedding photographer’s raw digital files,” she said, wiping her nose. “Video footage too. From before the reception officially started, before the guests even arrived.” She held it out to me with trembling fingers. “I asked the photographer for them this morning. I told him I wanted behind-the-scenes footage. I didn’t tell Mom.”
I took the small drive.
Elodie wiped her face again. “There’s a specific clip on there. Mom and Bianca standing at the head table. They moved the name cards. Mom says…” She stopped, unable to finish the sentence.
“What does she say?”
May you like
Elodie looked at me, deeply ashamed. “She says if you explode, Adrian looks like the innocent victim, and if you leave quietly, they can loudly claim you abandoned the marriage before checking the bank accounts.”
I closed my eyes. Shame works faster.
