Chapter 8 - Lila Wakes Up
The heavy silence of the ICU was broken by the quiet thud of heavy boots down the hallway.
Two police officers stood outside Lila’s door, keeping watch while Detective Marcus, Arthur Vance, and Chloe stood inside the small room. Eleanor was kept outside the glass partition, guarded by an officer, her heart hammering against her ribs like a sledgehammer.
Through the glass, Eleanor watched Chloe put on her innocent, sorrowful face, sitting beside Lila’s bed.
"Lila, dear," Chloe said, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness as she reached out to pat Lila’s blanket. "The police are here to take your final statement. You don't have to be afraid anymore. We know Eleanor was terrible to you. We know she forced those pills down your throat because she hated you."
Lila lay still, her breathing shallow beneath the oxygen mask.
She turned her eyes slowly toward Chloe. Then she looked past her, through the glass window, meeting Eleanor’s terrified, desperate gaze.
Eleanor didn't yell. She didn't scream. She simply pressed her palm flat against the glass, her eyes filled with an unspoken plea—not for her own freedom, but for the truth.
Lila closed her eyes for a long, painful three seconds. When she opened them, the fear that had defined her since she entered the Whitcomb house was gone.
She slowly reached up, pulling the oxygen mask down past her chin.
"Detective," Lila rasped, her voice thin but ringing clear in the small room.
Marcus stepped closer, pulling out a voice recorder. "I'm listening, Lila. Take your time."
"Chloe Vance... came to my room at eleven o'clock on my wedding night," Lila said, every word costing her an immense effort.
Chloe’s fake smile faltered. "Lila, sweetie, you're confused from the medicine—"
"Shut up, Miss Vance," Marcus barked sharply. "Let her speak."
"She brought a glass of spiced wine," Lila continued, her dark eyes locking onto Chloe with a fierce, burning light. "She told me... if I didn't drink it... she would tell Adrian about... about my past. She held the glass to my lips."
"That's a lie!" Chloe shrieked, jumping out of her chair. "She’s delusional!"
"I was afraid," Lila said, tears spilling over her eyelids. "So I took a sip. But I didn't finish it. When she left the room... I spat most of it into a small brown bottle on my nightstand—the bottle I kept my prenatal vitamins in."
Arthur Vance’s face turned gray.
"I hid that bottle under my pillow," Lila whispered, pulling her weak hand out from under the blanket. Clutched tightly in her tiny, pale fist was a small, square micro-SD memory card. "And before she came into the room... I turned on the voice recorder on my tablet. The tablet is inside my wedding handbag... in the bottom drawer of the wardrobe at the house."
Chloe backed away from the bed, her foot catching on the IV stand, sending it rattling against the wall. "Dad... Dad, do something!"
"Detective Marcus," Lila said, pointing a trembling finger straight at Chloe Vance. "That woman tried to kill my child. And Eleanor Whitcomb... Eleanor saved my life."
Marcus didn't hesitate. He pulled his handcuffs from his belt with a sharp clink.
"Chloe Vance," Marcus announced, grabbing Chloe’s arm and pinning it behind her back. "You are under arrest for attempted murder, food tampering, and obstruction of justice."
"Get your hands off my daughter!" Arthur Vance shouted, stepping forward, but Marcus’s partner immediately stepped into his path, hand resting on his holster.
"Step back, Mr. Vance!" the officer warned. "Or you’ll be joining her in a cell for witness intimidation!"
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Chloe screamed and thrusted her legs as she was dragged out of the room, past the glass partition, right past Eleanor.
Eleanor didn't say a word. She simply watched the wealthy, arrogant girl who had tried to destroy them both get dragged away in iron cuffs, her expensive silk dress rumpled and ruined in the harsh hospital light.
