Chapter 7

That evening, Eliana called Ivy. She didn't tell her everything, because there was basically no way she could without explaining the photograph, Raymond Wolfe or the growing certainty that the house contained secrets people had killed to protect. Instead, she told her the one thing she knew she could tell her.

"I accepted the marriage." There was silence on the other end.

Then Ivy said, "You've lost your mind."

Eliana looked down at her hands, picking at her fingers.

"I know." She didn’t even bother to deny that fact. There was literally no other explanation to what she had done.

"Eliana." Ivy had to exclaim, hoping she could jerk her friend out of whatever this was.

"I need the money." She admitted. “My dad needs the money.”

"But from a man whose wives keep dying?"

"They weren't all accidents." The words slipped out before she could stop them.

"What?" Eliana looked toward the bedroom door.

"Never mind."

"No. You don't get to say something like that and then tell me never mind."

"Ivy..."

"Are you safe?" Eliana opened her mouth, but nothing came.

She had always imagined danger as something obvious, or possibly loud. But, right there was one staring right back at her with so much quietness. That same danger would sit across from her at dinner and speak in a calm voice. It could open doors for her and even offer her ten million dollars and call the arrangement protection.

"I don't know," Eliana finally admitted, her voice breaking slightly.

"Then come home." Ivy sighed. “You know you can always come back, Ana.”

Eliana closed her eyes. "I can't."

"You can."

"Not yet."

"Eliana, please."

"I'll call you tomorrow." Ivy sighed. She recognized that firmness in Eliana’s voice, and it always signaled to her the things she wouldn’t be able to talk her friend out of.

"Promise me." She said finally, helpless at the situation.

"I promise." Eliana ended the call before Ivy could ask anything else.

For several seconds, she remained, sitting on the edge of the bed with the phone in her hand.

The room was completely silent. Eliana stood and walked toward the balcony. Outside, the gardens stretched beneath the night sky, and the fountain reflected the faint light from the house, while the trees stood almost motionless along the driveway. Everything spelt peace in the atmosphere, except it was not so in Eliana’s mind.

Then, in that moment she noticed something. A light was coming from the greenhouse.

This made Eliana frown. The greenhouse was at the far end of the garden, almost hidden behind a line of trees, and it felt like she saw someone in there. Eliana moved closer to the glass doors in her room. Suddenly, a shadow passed behind the curtains at the greenhouse. Eliana's heart began to beat faster. She opened the balcony door and cold air rushed in, sharp against her skin.

“Hello?” She called out and the movement stopped.

The next minute, it vanished.

She stepped back in disbelief. For a moment, she considered returning to her room. Instead, she opened the balcony door.

Cold air rushed against her skin. She walked quickly across the garden. The gravel pressed painfully against her bare feet, but she barely noticed. When she reached the greenhouse, the door was slightly open.

Eliana stopped, and looked behind her. The garden was empty. She pushed the door open, and warm, damp air surrounded her immediately. Plants had crowded the glass walls with their leaves casting complicated shadows across the floor. Water dripped somewhere nearby, creating a slow rhythm in the silence.

"Hello?" Nothing.

Eliana moved farther inside, and then she saw the table. An envelope sat in the center. Her name was written across the front.

ELIANA HART

Her breath hitched as she stopped walking. No one had mentioned an envelope. No one should have known she was coming here. Slowly, she reached for it. Her fingers trembled as she opened it.

Inside was a single sheet of paper. There were five names.

Isabella Wolfe. Clara Wolfe. Victoria Wolfe. Sofia Wolfe.

And beneath them: Eliana Hart.

She stared at the list. Her breathing became shallow. At the bottom of the page, someone had written another sentence in darker ink.

FIFTH TIME'S THE CHARM.

Eliana's fingers tightened around the paper. She read the words again.  Then again. The meaning became clearer with every second.

Someone had put her name on a list. A list of Drevian Wolfe's wives. Someone knew she was here. Someone had been waiting for her.

And just before she could think any further, a loud sound came from behind her.

The greenhouse door slammed shut. Eliana spun around. Nobody was there. She hurried toward the door and pulled at the handle.

It refused to open. Her pulse raced, fear slowly creeping in. She pulled again.

Nothing. Then her phone rang, causing the terrified lady to freeze. The screen displayed an unknown number.

The phone rang again. Eliana stared at it and then answered.

"Hello?"

For several seconds, there was only breathing. It was quite slow and controlled.

Eliana's stomach tightened as a woman's voice came through the phone, barely above a whisper.

"Get out of Wolfe Manor before he makes you Mrs. Wolfe." That was it.

The call ended and Eliana remained completely still. Her mind struggled to process what she had just heard. She strangely recognized that voice.

She had heard it the night before. The woman crying in the house. The woman whose voice she had tried to convince herself she had imagined.

Eliana slowly lowered the phone. Then another thought struck her. The woman hadn't said before he eliminates you.

She had said: before he makes you Mrs. Wolfe.

As though becoming Drevian's wife was itself the danger. Eliana looked down at the paper in her hand.

Isabella. Clara. Victoria. Sofia. Eliana.

Five women. Five names. And one message waiting beneath them. She looked toward the dark glass of the greenhouse and watched as her reflection stared back at her. Then the voice returned to her memory.

That familiar voice, almost impossible voice. Eliana's blood ran cold. Because she realized who had called her. And the woman on the other end of the phone was supposed to be dead.