Three Instances of a Lie Chapter 06

Three Instances of a Lie Chapter 06

The silk scarf, torn. The tape, ripped off… and a smear of dried blood on the wall.*

The room was empty.

She left on her own?

Federico stared at the scene, a sudden, cold laugh escaping his lips.

So, it was all an act. Berry hadn’t given up at all. She was just resentful.

She and her mother had cooked up this little melodrama together.

“What a performance,” he muttered, more to himself than anyone. “Mother and daughter, pulling a self-harm stunt together. All for money.”

He took out his phone and dialed Berry’s number.

Voicemail.

He turned to the butler. “Look after the young master. I’m going to find out what kind of game this mother-daughter pair is playing.”

The butler opened his mouth to say something, but then thought better of it.

At the hospital morgue.

Several nurses saw Federico and recognized him. Their faces hardened into masks of

contempt.

“You’re Ms. Blackwood’s husband?”

An older nurse approached, her voice sharp. “Where is your wife?”

A knot of dread tightened in Federico’s stomach.

“Hasn’t she been here?”

ľ

“Been here?” The nurse let out a harsh, disbelieving laugh. “If she had been here, her mother wouldn’t be lying on that slab!”

“Last night, that poor woman was on the roof for over half an hour. We were talking her down, reminding her she had a daughter and grandson to live for. She was starting to

come around.”

“But we called your wife, over and over. Not once did she pick up!”

Federico was stunned, his fingers curling into tight fists.

Last night?

In his rage, he had locked her in the panic room. Her phone… she didn’t have it.

“The old lady heard her daughter was getting a divorce and thought she was a burden. That’s why she jumped…”

“As a daughter, she couldn’t even come for her mother’s last moments. Does she even

have a heart?”

Federico said nothing.

He wanted to scream it-She was locked up, her phone was on the floor, she heard, she begged me, but I didn’t believe her…

But the words were caught in his throat.

“The body can’t stay here forever if no one claims it.”

Another doctor approached, his face weary. “You’re her husband. Please handle the paperwork.”

“As for your wife, please tell her… as her mother was passing, she kept whispering, ‘Don’t blame Berry, it was all Mom’s fault for being a burden. The poor woman was defending her daughter to the very end.”

Federico stood rooted to the spot, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

“Divorce?” His voice cracked, rising to a near-shout. “Who told her we were getting a divorce? I never signed the papers!”

The doctor looked startled. “We have no idea how she found out. Your wife hasn’t been

to the hospital in days. A Miss Cross did visit, though. After that visit, the old lady

wasn’t herself.”

Federico’s pupils contracted violently.

Savannah Cross.

She had been here.

No wonder.

Berry always shielded her mother from bad news. A divorce was something she would

never, ever mention.

He staggered back a step.

He suddenly remembered Berry’s desperate cry from the night before: “My mom threw herself in front of a car for you and our son!”

It was three years ago, on Mother’s Day.

He’d been walking with Erik in his arms when a truck careened toward them. Berry’s mother had shoved them to safety, taking the full impact herself.

Six steel pins in her leg. Long-term care.

He had looked her in the eye and said, “Mom, I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life.” A promise he made. A promise he broke.

At first, he’d visited. But slowly, he forgot.

He even forbade his son from visiting his grandmother, paranoid about hospital germs.

When he got home, the living room was brightly lit.

Erik, a cooling patch on his forehead, his cheeks flushed, scrambled off the sofa and ran to him. His voice was hoarse. “Dad, where’s Mom? Why isn’t Mom back yet?”