POV: Raphael
Outside, the moon dipped lower in the sky, casting a calm glow over the house. I took a moment to breathe, feeling the weight of the world shift slightly. The truth was a powerful force, and I hoped it would lead us all to a brighter future. Yeah, I hoped in my heart that everything would go according to plan so we could all heal and get past these lies. That is the only way we can move on with our lives and I hoped in my heart that it happened that way.
But something is off, I can feel it in my bones. I kept feeling weird even after I left her room and took a walk around the house to be sure our security locks were secured. I was pacing my room for no just reason and it’s making me edgy and furious. This only happens when I’ve made a mistake or a bad business deal.
Usually, when I feel this way, I know exactly what to do. It’s either I find my way to correctly mistake before it is too late, or if it’s a business deal that is making me feel this way, I’ll simply back down from the business deal that I am handling currently and I’ll come up with some reason why I’m unable to move on with the business deal. It’s always easy for me to retrace my steps and correct anything I might have done to make me feel this way.
But this case is different because even if I know the reason why I am feeling restless and edgy, I have no idea how to address the issue, I don’t know what I’m going to do about it. Should I confront her and force her to tell me the truth, should I put a guard on her to find out what she is up to?
I don’t think any of that would work, Eloise won’t fall for my tricks again. She has built a shell around her heart, so forcing the truth out of her is out of the question because she would lie and manipulate the truth to her favor. And I can’t put a guard on her because it would look suspicious. She is already paranoid because of Miguel. If I put a guard on her, she would think that something is wrong and she would be forced to make some hasty decisions that could ruin all our hard work.
I decided to first find out why she had been so hasty to shut the door after I left. She had been busy when I walked into her room, I’m guessing she couldn’t wait to get back to whatever she was doing before I interrupted her. At least if I can’t find out what she is planning, I could at least find out why she is sneaking around in my house right?
I picked up my iPad and viewed the security camera from when I was standing outside first. Yeah, I know I shouldn’t put hidden cameras in my house, especially in the bedrooms. But if you come from a crazy family like mine, if you have experienced what it means to have your life on the line for many years. Then you would appreciate my security technique. You would understand why I’m always paranoid and careful with everyone and everything around me.
I saw her staring at me from the window like I did when I was standing outside, speaking with Carl. But just as I was talking on the phone with Carl, she was also talking to someone on her burner phone. And the clothes I saw her folding weren’t fake, she was actually putting her stuff back in her box, folding them neatly. I wonder why.
Could it be that she is planning to take her life instead of telling the girls the truth, why is she acting so crazy and stupid, so stupid. Or wait, is she planning to run away?
I reviewed the camera footage in her room and I forwarded it to the point where I left her room after our long talk. She shut the door and turned the lock from behind the door. Then she smiled to herself, revealing a sinister look that I didn’t see on her face all the while that I was in her room trying to convince her to do the right thing.
She looked so mean and evil, I couldn’t believe that she was the same person that was close to shedding tears before I left her room. She dialed a number on her burner and said,
“I found a way to get the stubborn one back home tomorrow. So get everything ready, we will do it tomorrow. No delays and no mistakes, got it?” she less out sternly on her phone, smiling in satisfaction. If I didn’t see her talking on the phone myself, I would never believe that she had said those words. But I did, I saw her make that call, and the disturbing fact is that she was so happy doing it.
I couldn’t keep this to myself, that look on her face seemed to be jaunting me and making me more pissed than I was before I reviewed that camera footage. I didn’t want to leave this room again tonight, but I just have to go over there again. She needs to know that I heard what she said on the phone.
I tiptoed out of the room and went to ask her about it, making it clear that I knew she was not feeling guilty like she wanted me to believe. At first, she refused to open the four when I first knocked. Then I banged harder on the door and yelled at her, telling her that I knew she called someone on her burner. That made her open the door immediately and I noticed that the smile had disappeared completely. All that is left is sadness and that pained look that she used to kick me out of the room.
“No… No… No… No… No…
Not this time, Eloise, I’m not falling for that pity face you are wearing right now. Take it off!
Get rid of that sad, pathetic face and tell me who the hell you were talking to on your burner and why did you say it would be done tomorrow, what do you have planned?” I asked her, glaring daggers at her.
“You don’t trust me, do you?
No matter what I do or say, you are never going to believe me, are you?” she asked me sadly, her tears flowing freely down her cheeks. I was like, what game is this woman playing with me. Was she not the same person I saw smiling like an evil villain that sprung out from a Disney cartoon?
“Enough with the emotional blackmail. Tell me what I need to know, I need answers and I need them right now!” I told her sternly. She smiled at me and handed me the burner, letting me check her call log to see who she had called. I scrolled to her last dialed number and I saw it was Austin that is listed as the last number she just called. I looked at her and back to the phone again, I didn’t understand what was going on here.
“Austin?!
You called your ex-husband?
Why?!
You want me to believe that it was Austin Kendall that you were instructing to her everything ready for tomorrow?” I asked her.
“Of course, it’s Austin Kendall. Or, do you know any other man in my life that is named Austin?” she shot back at me, glaring at me.
“I called to tell him to get ready with all the evidence we need to explain to the girls that we are not their real family. I told him Claire would be here tomorrow, so we had to come clean tomorrow. I’m only trying to get ready for tomorrow, just like you instructed me. Why can’t you trust me?” She asked in frustration, her eyes glaring at me.
“What do you need him here for, what can’t you do it yourself like we talked about?” I asked her.
“I wasn’t alone when I got the girls, was I?
We did it together, Raphael. So it’s only fair that he sticks with me as we tell them the truth tomorrow. Besides, he has all the evidence with him. He has always known that this day would come and he kept all the evidence to use against me and probably blackmail the real families of Victoria and Claire. I need him here if this is going to work, I can’t do it alone. I need his support, I need all the evidence to show the girls too. Why don’t you trust me, why can’t you believe me?” she sobbed sadly.
I don’t buy her story about needing Austin’s support. She hasn’t been with him for a very long time, she stopped loving him the moment he cheated on her with her sister and she never needed him all this while that she has been with the girls alone. So why does she need him now, and what is her assurance that he will be there for her like she wants. What makes her think he would come here to support her?
I had so many thoughts in my head, but I couldn’t prove it because I just saw her phone and I confirmed that the last number she called was Austins. So who am I to say that she is lying?
I want to point out all these things to her, but it would only prove that I don’t trust her like she claims. Do I just have to take her word for it. But I viewed the number one last time and I memorized it before handing her phone back to her and leaving her to head back to my room. The moment I entered my room, I sent the number to call with an instruction,
“Find out if this number belongs to Austin Kendall or his PA. Run a trace and tell me if he has been speaking to his ex-wife secretly.” I told him.