Chapter 7 - Fragile Alliances
The SUV came to a sudden halt outside a secluded safehouse in the dense woods of Rhode Island.
Ellie sat frozen in the backseat, her heart pounding against her ribs like a trapped bird. She looked down at Brinley, who had fallen back asleep in her arms, clutching her one-eyed teddy bear.
Brinley... isn't mine?
"No," Ellie whispered, her tears falling onto Brinley’s blanket. "No, that’s a lie! I gave birth to her! I held her in the hospital!"
Jude stepped out of the SUV, opened the rear door, and extended a hand to help her out.
"I didn't say she wasn't yours, Ellie," Jude said quietly, his voice unusually gentle. "I said my sister was pregnant."
Ellie pulled away from his hand, stepping out onto the wet gravel on her own. "Explain it to me. Right now."
Jude led her inside the quiet, rustic cabin. Marcus stayed outside to secure the perimeter. Inside, log fires burned low, casting long, flickering shadows across the room.
Jude leaned against the wooden counter, crossing his broad arms.
"Four years ago, my sister Clara—not the housekeeper, my sister Elena—was secretly seeing Julian," Jude explained. "Julian was just a mid-level accountant back then. Elena died in that crash, but the child... the baby survived the emergency C-section at Saint Jude’s Hospital."
Ellie gasped, clutching Brinley tighter. "I lost my baby..." she remembered, the painful memory flooding back. "Four years ago... I had a stillbirth at Saint Jude's..."
"You were told your baby didn't make it," Jude said gravely. "And at the exact same hour, Elena died, leaving a healthy newborn girl. Julian bribed the head attending physician to swap the birth certificates. He gave Elena’s baby to you so you would raise her as your own."
Ellie felt like the floor had vanished beneath her feet. She sank onto the sofa, staring at Brinley’s sleeping face.
The little girl had Jude’s dark, wavy hair. She had the same piercing, almond-shaped eyes as the Mercer family.
"You... you knew?" Ellie choked out, looking up at Jude with pure betrayal. "You knew all along?"
"I found out three days ago," Jude confessed, his facial scar tightening. "When Reggie tried to liquidate the hospital archives. That’s why I brought you to the estate, Ellie. Not to scrub floors. To protect her."
Ellie swallowed hard, anger mixing with her heartbreak. "Protect her from who? From Reggie? Or from you?"
Jude stepped closer, kneeling in front of her just as he had done with Brinley earlier.
"I am a monster to many people, Ellie," Jude said softly, staring directly into her eyes. "But I swear on my sister’s grave... I will tear Providence apart before I let anyone touch that child."
Ellie stared at him. She saw no deception in his eyes—only raw, agonizing pain and protective rage.
Suddenly, Jude’s secure satellite phone buzzed on the counter.
He stood up and picked it up.
"Speak," Jude ordered.
May you like
A distorted voice answered on the other end. "You have six hours to deliver the kid to Pier 4, Jude. Or the video of how your sister really died goes live to the police."
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