Chapter 6

Nina lay in her hospital bed with her left hand wrapped in thick bandages, watching the security footage Carter had sent her.

The recordings left no room for doubt. One showed Willa sneaking into the prop storage room in the middle of the night to replace the water tank's lock. Another captured her returning before the performance to start the fire.

Nina saved the footage to a flash drive and was about to call the police when Ian appeared in the doorway.

The sight of her lying injured in the hospital bed brought a look of guilt and heartache to his face. He took a tentative step toward her, his lips parting as though he wanted to say something, but then his gaze dropped to the flash drive in her hand. He noticed her phone, too, with the security footage still playing on its screen.

His expression changed.

Before Nina could react, Ian strode over, snatched her phone away, and threw it onto the bed.

"What the hell are you doing?"

He ignored her, reaching instead for the flash drive. Nina immediately curled her fingers around it and pulled her hand away.

"Ian!"

"Give it to me." His voice was dangerously low.

"Why the hell should I?"

Rather than answer, Ian grabbed her hand and tried to pry her fingers apart. He was gripping her so tightly that pain shot through her fingers, and in the struggle, her bandaged left hand struck the edge of the bed.

"Ow! That hurts!"

Her cry made him pause. For a moment, he seemed genuinely shaken, his grip loosening as he took in her contorted expression and the blood beginning to seep through the bandages on her injured hand.

Nina clutched the flash drive even tighter, her eyes reddening as she stared up at him.

"Have you lost your mind?" she demanded, her voice trembling.

Ian stood beside the bed for a moment before finally speaking.

"Don't call the police."

Nina stared at him.

"You knew?" she asked incredulously. "You know what she did? She tampered with the lock, started that fire, and nearly burned me alive in there. And you're telling me not to call the police?"

"She didn't mean to," Ian replied hoarsely.

Nina could hardly believe what she was hearing.

"She just lost her temper. She wanted to get back at you." He kept his eyes fixed on the wall rather than looking at her. "After everything you put her through, it's understandable that she'd be angry."

He drew a deep breath, still standing beside her bed.

"All these years we've been married, I've never asked you for anything."

Nina turned to face him. There was a flicker of unease in his eyes, but this time, he didn't look away.

"Just this once, Nina. Can't you let her off the hook?"

She regarded him for a moment before answering.

"Fine. But tomorrow, you're coming with me to the old family estate."

"Okay," he agreed.

The following day, Richard was waiting at the entrance to the family estate when Nina and Ian arrived. His gaze lingered briefly on Ian as the two stepped out of the car, but he made no comment.

"Wait here," Nina told Ian.

He nodded, and she followed her father inside.

Richard led her down a hallway to her mother, Margaret Shaw's old bedroom, where nothing had changed in the three years since her death. He went to a cabinet, took out a mahogany box, and handed it to Nina.

"Your mother left this for you," he explained. "Before she passed, she told me to wait until you'd been married, then have your husband accompany you here to collect it."

Nina accepted the box.

Even as Margaret's life was drawing to an end, she'd still been looking forward to seeing her daughter in a wedding dress and meeting the man she would marry.

But Nina had never brought Ian home, not even once. He'd always refused to come.

Richard remained silent for a while before gently patting her shoulder. Without saying anything more, he turned and left the room.

Ian was still waiting in the courtyard when Nina emerged, his eyes briefly settling on the box in her arms.

Neither spoke a word on the drive home.

That night, Nina had barely settled into bed when someone started pounding on the door.

It was ten o'clock.

She got up to answer it, only for Ian to storm inside, seize her wrist, and yank her violently toward him.

"Where's Willa?" he roared, his eyes bloodshot with rage. "Where the hell have you taken her? Where are you keeping her?"