Chapter Forty One_Flashback

Elena.

Hours after I left the mansion with a parting smile and a promise to bring Charlotte to visit her grandparents, Elliot showed up at the front of my door.

"What do you want?" I held the door open, confusion etched across my features.

It wasn't like he couldn't visit me. He wasn't friends with James, and I lived with James.

"I can't get enough of my little niece, so I decided to visit." He walked in, instantly going for Charlotte, who giggled at the cartoons I had on. "I've been thinking of getting one of these soon."

"Children are not toys to just be gotten. They're a gift for the worthy....and you're..." I stared at him, gesturing to his whole self. "You."

"James got blessed with one of them. He's not better than me."

I shrugged, content with watching him just play with Charlotte. But when he turned to me, I sighed.

"Did he do that to you?" He asked.

I knew what he was referring to. A punch mark on my shoulder that I had been careful to cover with makeup when I left the house.