登入Andrew’s POVCharles Olsen filled the doorway like a man entering his own house.He was round and pink and perfectly tailored, with a neat silver mustache and a gold watch that caught the light each time he moved his wrist. He carried a bouquet of white lilies in one hand and a box of imported chocolates in the other. His smile was warm. His eyes were crinkled with what looked, to anyone who did not know him, like fatherly concern.I had known that smile since I was six years old."Andrew, my boy," he said again, and crossed the room with his hand outstretched. "Thank heavens. When I heard about your collapse, I nearly had an attack myself. Courtney has been beside herself. We came the moment we could.""Mr. Olsen."My voice came out level. I was proud of that. Beneath the blanket, my fist had curled so tightly that my nails bit into my palm, and the monitor above my head gave a warning chirp, a single high note that made everyone in the room glance toward it."Breathe, Andrew," Dr. W
Annalise’s POV"You've seen it before," I repeated.Jonas nodded. His throat bobbed. He had risen to his feet without seeming to notice, his hands hanging limply at his sides, his eyes fixed on the little brass key in my palm like a man looking at a ghost."Not this one. Another. Exactly the same." He drew a shaky breath. "Five years ago, after Mr. Mason's funeral. I was helping your father clear out his study at the Hale Group, Mr. Hale. Mr. Mason had a locked drawer in his desk. When we forced it open, there was a chain inside, with a brass key on the end. I remember it because it was so plain. It was the only thing in the drawer.""What happened to it?" Andrew asked. His voice was hoarse, but steady."Your father took it. He said it was a keepsake. I never saw it again."The monitor beeped softly into the silence.I turned the key over in my fingers. It was heavier than it looked, its edges worn to a soft shine by years against my skin. I had touched it a thousand times, in a thous
Andrew’s POV Jonas arrived at nine the next morning, carrying a leather satchel and wearing the expression of a man heading to his own execution."Sir," he said, from the doorway. "I brought what you asked for.""Close the door."He did, and then he stood there, twisting the strap of the satchel in both hands. He had not slept either, I could see. His tie was crooked and his eyes were red. He looked as if he wanted to speak and could not decide where to begin."Jonas," I said. "Sit."He sat. The children had been taken to the cafeteria by my mother, who had announced that nobody who had survived the last three days should be expected to eat hospital porridge, and had marched them out with a promise of pancakes. The room was quiet. Annalise sat in the chair by the window, her hands wrapped around a paper cup of tea, watching the morning light slide across the floor."The diary," I said.Jonas opened the satchel and drew out a worn leather notebook. The cover was soft and creased, the
Annalise’s POV"His wife," I repeated.The nurse nodded miserably, twisting her cap in her hands. "That's what she told the front desk. She had a camera crew with her, and a lawyer, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. Security is holding her in the lobby, but the reporters keep pushing, and...""I'll handle it."Andrew's fingers closed around my wrist. "Annalise. No.""You are not allowed to have another attack," I said. "So you are going to stay right here, you are going to breathe slowly, and you are going to let me deal with this.""She's dangerous.""So am I." I pulled my hand free, smoothed my hair, and picked up the envelope from the blanket. "Liam is on guard duty. If you need anything, tell him."Liam's eyes had snapped open the instant the door banged. He sat bolt upright in the chair, rubbing his face with one fist, and gave me a slow, solemn nod. "I'll watch him, Mommy.""Thank you, sweetheart."I walked out into the corridor and did not look back.Xander and Tania were
Andrew’s POVThe children fell asleep one by one.Abby went first, curled up in a nest of hospital blankets on the sofa bed with her stuffed rabbit under her chin. Max followed ten minutes later, in the middle of a sentence about superhero strategy, his foam sword still clutched in one hand. Liam held out the longest. He sat bolt upright in the visitor's chair with his arms folded, glaring at the door as though it might try something, and then his head tipped forward, slowly, and his eyes closed.My mother and father had gone to find coffee. Xander had gone to find Tania, who had gone to find a pharmacy for Annalise's headache. The room was quiet. A single lamp burned beside my bed, throwing a warm circle over the blanket, and the monitor beeped its slow, patient rhythm.Annalise had not said a word in an hour.She sat in the chair on the other side of my bed with her back very straight and her hands folded in her lap. Her eyes were fixed on something I could not see. A white envelope
Annalise’s POVThe trial began at ten o'clock sharp.I would like to say I had tried to stop it. I had not. I stood in the corner of the hospital room with my arms crossed and my back against the wall, watching my three children arrange the furniture with the grim efficiency of a team preparing for a coup.Liam had dragged the visitor's table to the foot of Andrew's bed and covered it with a white pillowcase. Max had positioned two chairs on either side, one for the prosecution and one for the defense, and then discovered there was no one to sit in the second. Abby had drawn a gavel on a piece of paper, cut it out with a pair of blunt scissors borrowed from the nurse's station, and taped it to a spoon. It looked, on the whole, like a very small, very determined courthouse."All rise," Liam announced."I can't rise," Andrew said mildly from the pillows. "I'm hooked up to an IV.""Then lie still with respect."Andrew pressed his lips together. I saw the corner of his mouth twitch, and I
I only glanced at the device once then went about my morning routine.After I was done, I picked up my phone to find several messages piled up.[Annalise, where are you? Why aren't you answering my calls?][Where did you sleep last night, Annalise?][What is going on between you and Alexander Sterl
My fingers instinctively tightened around the phone, hearing Tania’s words.I didn't hear her wrong, did I?“I checked your marriage certificate, Anna. It was fake!” Tania groaned. “Don’t tell me the scumbag tricked you!”Tricked me…Aiden himself asked me to marry him.Three years ago, he’d knocke
Cassandra pointed at me, her soft voice echoing in the hallway. That was when Aiden peeled his gaze from her, and the tender look on his face was instantly gone.But instead of appearing confused, only fear and frustration flashed in his eyes.He quickly let go of Cassandra, While Cassandra tremb
The next day, I discharged myself from the hospital.Standing across the bustling street outside the hospital’s skyscraper, my eyes squinted at the burning sun.For thirty minutes, not a single taxi stopped.Then, suddenly, a convoy of black luxury cars swept onto the street, instantly drawing ever







