Chapter 3

Twelve days passed.

My countdown dropped from thirty days to eighteen.

During that time, I learned how easily three people could live beneath the same roof while pretending nothing was wrong.

I smiled when Seraphina brought me breakfast. I thanked Callum when he held Isla so I could shower.

Little by little, they stopped watching me.

Seraphina became comfortable again.

One morning, she looked at the bottle of vitamin drops beside Isla’s crib.

“Elara forgot these yesterday,” she told Callum.

“No, I didn’t. I opened a new bottle.”

Seraphina smiled as though she were reassuring a child.

“Of course. You’re exhausted. Anyone could forget.”

Callum looked at me.

“You should get more sleep.”

Two days later, Seraphina told him I had tried to feed Isla twice within half an hour.

“No one told me you had already fed her,” I said.

“I did tell you.”

She sounded certain.

Callum’s expression filled with concern.

Neither incident mattered by itself.

Together, they began to sound like a pattern.

That afternoon, I found Seraphina holding Isla beside the living room window.

“She was crying,” she said. “I settled her.”

I held out my arms.

“I’ll take her.”

“She’s comfortable.”

“I know. Give her to me.”

Seraphina looked toward the hallway. Callum was working in his study.

“You’ve barely slept,” she said. “Maybe you should rest.”

“I want my daughter.”

“You’ve been tense lately, Elara.”

Tense. Forgetful. Exhausted.

The same words, repeated until they began to sound like evidence.

Seraphina carried Isla to the bassinet and placed her inside. She adjusted the blanket, then stood between me and the crib.

Above the shelf, the baby camera’s blue light blinked. Callum had installed it before Isla was born, with the lens angled toward the bassinet.

I stepped to the side.

Seraphina moved with me.

“Let me pass.”

“You need to calm down.”

“I am calm. Move.”

I took another step toward the bassinet.

I did not touch her.

Seraphina suddenly stumbled backward.

There was a pause—small, but long enough for me to see it.

Then she struck the side of the sofa and dropped to the floor.

Callum rushed in from the hallway.

“What happened?”

Seraphina shook her head and pressed one hand against her hip.

“Don’t be angry with her. She didn’t mean for me to fall.”

I stared at her.

“I never touched you.”

Callum knelt beside her.

“You pushed her?”

“No.”

“Elara’s exhausted,” Seraphina said. “She hasn’t been herself.”

“She’s lying. I didn’t touch her.”

Callum helped her stand, then turned to me.

“You need to lower your voice.”

“She fell by herself.”

“You haven’t slept properly in weeks.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t know what I saw.”

His expression hardened.

“Right now, I’m not sure you do.”

The words hurt more than if he had shouted.

I looked toward the bassinet. Isla was safe, staring up at the mobile above her head.

“My sister just accused me of something I didn’t do, and you’re questioning my mind.”

“She’s trying to help us.”

“Then tell her to leave.”

Callum did not hesitate.

“Seraphina and Milo aren’t going anywhere.”

He had made his choice.

That night, after everyone was asleep, I wrote down the date, the time, and every detail I could remember.

I had not touched Seraphina.

I wrote that sentence twice.

Then I sent the account to my attorney.

I booked a flight for the morning my countdown ended and saved the confirmation in my private email.

Eighteen days remained.

Seraphina thought she had created evidence against me.

She had only shown me what kind of evidence I would need against her.