Chapter Seventeen: Mother's instinct

AVA

I didn't sleep at all that night. Victoria's ultimatum echoed in my head: divorce Liam and disappear, or go to prison and lose Eli forever. But every time I thought about giving up, I remembered Eli's laugh, his tiny hand in mine, the way he said "Mama" when he was sleepy.

I wouldn't abandon my son. Not for Victoria, not for anyone.

The next morning, I waited until Liam finished his coffee and dismissed Elena to take Eli for his morning walk. It was now or never.

"Liam, I need to talk to you. It's important."

He looked up from his tablet, already showing signs of impatience. "What about?"

"Victoria. She's been lying to you."

His expression hardened immediately. "Excuse me?"

"She sent that threatening note. She's the one who called child services. She planted drugs in my old apartment."

Liam set down his tablet and stared at me. "Are you listening to yourself?"

"I know how it sounds, but I have proof. Marcus showed me security footage of Victoria delivering the note."

"Marcus showed you what?"

"He's been helping me understand what's really happening here."

Liam's face darkened. "Marcus has been talking to you behind my back?"

"That's not the point. The point is that Victoria has been manipulating both of us."

"Victoria has been my closest friend for years. She's supported me through everything."

"She's been controlling you! She admitted it to me yesterday. She said she's been guiding your decisions, making sure you make the choices she wants you to make."

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it? Think about it, Liam. Every time you start to soften toward me, she shows up with some crisis or concern. Every time Eli and I start bonding, she finds a reason why that's dangerous for his development."

"Victoria cares about our family."

"Victoria cares about getting you back! She told me herself that this marriage was always temporary. That once you had full custody of Eli, you wouldn't need me anymore."

Liam stood up abruptly. "Enough."

"Just listen to me.."

"No, Ava. I'm done listening to paranoid fantasies."

"They're not fantasies! She threatened me yesterday. She said if I don't divorce you voluntarily, she'll plant drugs on me and have me arrested."

"Do you hear yourself? You're accusing Victoria of being some kind of criminal mastermind."

"Because that's what she is!"

"She's a successful businesswoman who's been nothing but supportive of our marriage."

"Supportive? She called our marriage a business arrangement with an expiration date!"

"Maybe because that's what it is."

The words hit me like a physical blow. "What?"

"We got married because you were pregnant. We stay married because it's best for Eli. That's the reality, Ava."

"I thought we were trying to build something real."

"You thought wrong."

I felt tears building, but I forced them back. "What about the security footage? What about the proof that Victoria sent the threatening note?"

"What I think is that you're under a lot of stress, and you're looking for someone to blame for your unhappiness."

"I'm unhappy because I'm being treated like a prisoner in my own home!"

"You're unhappy because you have unrealistic expectations about what this marriage would be."

"Expecting my husband to believe me when I tell him the truth is unrealistic?"

"Expecting me to believe conspiracy theories about one of my oldest friends is unrealistic."

I stared at him, seeing the wall he'd built between us. Victoria had done her work well.

"She's poisoned you against me."

"No one has poisoned me against anyone. I'm making rational decisions based on observed behavior."

"What behavior?"

"Your increasing paranoia. Your hostility toward Elena. Your attempts to turn me against Victoria. Your meetings with Marcus."

"My meetings with Marcus?"

"Did you think I wouldn't find out? I know about your secret rendezvous yesterday."

My blood ran cold. "How do you know about that?"

"I know everything that happens in this family, Ava. Everything."

"You had me followed."

"I have you protected. There's a difference."

"Not to me."

"That's your problem, not mine."

I felt the walls closing in around me. "Liam, please. Just look at the evidence. Give me a chance to prove what Victoria is doing."

"The only thing you've proven is that you're not handling the pressures of this life very well."

"So you're going to choose her word over mine?"

"I'm going to choose logic over hysteria."

"Hysteria?" I stood up, anger overriding my desperation. "Is that what you call a mother trying to protect her child?"

"I call it a woman who's losing perspective."

"My perspective is fine. It's your perspective that's been twisted by a manipulative woman who's been playing games with your life for years."

"Victoria has never lied to me."

"She lied about the threatening note!"

"You say she did. You have no proof except supposedly seeing security footage that Marcus claims exists."

"He showed it to me!"

"Marcus, who works for me and would be fired immediately if I found out he was conspiring against my family's interests."

The threat was clear. If I kept pushing this, Marcus would pay the price.

"You won't even consider that I might be telling the truth."

"I've considered it. And I've concluded that you're either deliberately lying or seriously confused."

"Why would I lie about this?"

"To get Victoria out of our lives. To eliminate someone you see as competition for my attention."

"Competition? She's trying to destroy our marriage!"

"Our marriage doesn't need destroying, Ava. It was never built on solid ground to begin with."

I sank back into my chair, feeling defeated. "You really believe that."

"I know that."

"Then why are we even pretending?"

"Because it's what's best for Eli. As long as you can play your role without causing drama, this arrangement works."

"And if I can't?"

"Then we'll have to make other arrangements."

The threat hung in the air between us. I looked at this man I'd married, this stranger who shared my bed and my son, and realized Victoria was right about one thing. I'd never really known him at all.

"I see."

"I hope you do. For everyone's sake."

After Liam left for his office, I sat alone in the silent penthouse, trying to figure out my next move. Victoria had outmaneuvered me completely. She'd convinced Liam I was unstable, turned my efforts to expose her into evidence of my own paranoia.

When Elena returned with Eli from their walk, I watched them more carefully than usual. Eli seemed sluggish, less energetic than normal. When Elena gave him his afternoon snack, I noticed she also gave him a small cup of liquid.

"What's that?" I asked.

"His daily vitamins," Elena replied smoothly.

"The same vitamins you give him before bed?"

"Similar. Dr. Reeves recommended a comprehensive supplement program."

I watched Eli drink the liquid without protest, though he made the same yucky face he always did. Within twenty minutes, he was sitting quietly with his educational tablet, unusually focused and calm.

Too calm.

That evening, while Elena was preparing Eli's dinner, I searched her room. In her bathroom cabinet, behind a collection of expensive skincare products, I found several small bottles of medication. The labels were from the same pharmacy as Eli's "sleep aid," but these weren't vitamins.

They were mild sedatives. Child-safe doses, but sedatives nonetheless. Elena had been drugging my son to keep him compliant.

I photographed the bottles with shaking hands, then put everything back exactly as I'd found it. I needed to tell Liam immediately, show him proof of what was happening to Eli.

I rushed to his study and threw open the door without knocking.

"Liam, I found something.."

I stopped mid-sentence.

Liam was behind his desk, but he wasn't alone. Victoria was there too, perched on the edge of his desk, her hand on his chest, her lips on his.

They broke apart when I entered, but neither of them looked particularly surprised or guilty.

"Ava," Liam said calmly. "You should knock."

"Should I knock?" My voice came out as a whisper.

Victoria smiled, making no effort to move away from him. "Hello, darling. We were just discussing your little outburst this morning."

"You're cheating on me."

"I'm having a private conversation with an old friend," Liam said. "In my private study."

"That wasn't a conversation."

"What it was is none of your business."

Victoria laughed softly. "Oh, Ava. You look so shocked. Surely you didn't think this was a real marriage?"

I stared at them, at how comfortable they were together, at how little they cared about being caught.

"How long has this been going on?"

"Does it matter?" Liam asked.

"It matters to me."

"It shouldn't. We've never pretended this marriage was about love."

"But we... We've been sharing a bed. We've been..."

"We've been maintaining appearances," Victoria finished. "For Eli's sake, of course."

I felt like I was drowning. "Elena has been sedating Eli."

Both of them looked at me with the same expression of patient condescension.

"Ava," Liam said slowly, "you need help."

"I have proof. She has sedatives in her room. She's been giving them to him with his vitamins."

"You went through Elena's personal belongings?" Victoria asked, sounding shocked.

"She's drugging my son!"

"She's following medical advice to help him adjust to his new environment," Liam said. "Dr. Reeves prescribed mild anxiety medication to help with the transition."

"You knew about this?"

"Of course I knew. I authorized it."

"You authorized drugging our two-year-old son?"

"I authorized appropriate medical care for a child experiencing stress from major life changes."

"He wasn't stressed until you people started controlling every minute of his day!"

Victoria slid off the desk and approached me with fake concern. "Sweetie, you're having another episode. Maybe you should lie down."

"I'm not having an episode! I'm reacting normally to finding out my husband is cheating on me and drugging our child!"

"Liam," Victoria said softly, "perhaps it's time to call Dr. Morrison."

"Who's Dr. Morrison?" I demanded.

"A psychiatrist who specializes in postpartum mental health issues," Liam said, already reaching for his phone.

"I don't have postpartum mental health issues! I have a cheating husband and a drugged child!"

But I could see in their faces that my words were being dismissed as the ravings of an unstable woman. Victoria had won again.

And this time, they were going to have me declared mentally incompetent..