Caroline’s POV:“What is this?” I whispered into the dimly lit empty room. My eyes strained to make out the fine details of the old photo, but frustratingly, the marker was only getting in the way. One thing was for certain, though: the two people in the photo were most certainly Thomas West and Sara Anderson.It dawned on me then that the issues that plagued William and I were far deeper than I’d originally suspected. Was Sophia just a catalyst? Perhaps there laid a far greater secret behind William’s inexplicable hatred for my father.My dad never once mentioned William’s mother to me, though. If they were good friends, surely he would have brought her up more than a few times, right? Yet whenever I saw these two supposed friends together, they were only ever proper (even a bit stuffy) with one another. By all means, they appeared to be perfectly professional business partners.Mrs. Anderson had always been a pleasant fixture in my life ever since she and my father joined together i
Caroline’s POV:Standing on the second floor of the villa, I rushed over to the balcony railing and looked over with worry beating in my chest. The anxious nanny held a sobbing George in her arms, desperately rocking him back and forth and hoping to calm him down. At the same time, William came sprinting out of the kitchen, rushing to the maid’s side to look over his son. “What happened?” he demanded, his shoulders visibly shaking with anxiety. “He’s having an allergic reaction!” explained the nanny, holding up one of the fitful George’s arms. It was a mess of ugly red splotches, which also patterned over his face. “Oh, he must be in so much pain!”Just hearing the nanny’s words had my heart clenching tightly in my chest. No baby should ever have to be in so much pain, and just the thought of George suffering in such a way made my throat tighten in sorrow. Everything I had seen in the study was long forgotten as I hurriedly made my way downstairs.William noticed me trotting down t
Caroline’s POV:“What? I would never!” I nearly shouted, forced to keep my voice down so George wouldn’t stir. “You can’t possibly think I had something to do with this!”Instead of answering, the nanny quickly came forward to take George out of my arms. For George’s sake, I didn’t protest, but I was deeply hurt by the heavy look of suspicion and anger resting on her face. The doubt in both her and William’s faces were beyond clear.I was stunned by their disbelief, barely able to muster a word to defend myself. Did I really look so cruel as to poison a little baby? Even if I did want to hurt George, why would I wait until now? I had a plethora of opportunities to do so in the past!“William, do you really think I did it?” I asked him, locking my eyes with his. Honestly, I just wanted to see if his answer was as ridiculous as all the ones preceding it.Upon being put on the spot so suddenly, William hesitated to give an answer. “No, I just… I have no idea.” He withered under my frank l
Caroline’s POV:As soon as the question left my lips, Sophia froze like a statue. Tension visibly rippled through her body, but within seconds, she forced it all down.“Of course,” she said simply, as though her sudden appearance wasn’t strange in the slightest. She snapped her arm to gesture at the nanny. “Sandra informed me of what was going on. I’m George’s mother, so of course I should know if my own son was poisoned!”She spun on her heel to face William, fake sorrow bubbling in her voice. “William, honey, I know there are some misunderstandings between us—”“Misunderstandings?” William snorted, sarcasm dripping into his voice. “Sure, let's call it that.”Sophia continued on undeterred save for a small flinch from the blow to her pride. “William, you can’t possibly be so cruel to our child! Can’t you see that Caroline is trying to hurt our baby? She wants revenge! Please, William, get her out of our house! She’s a vicious woman and she scares me. Who knows what else she plans to d
Caroline’s POV:Looking into George’s big blue eyes, I felt a connection spark between us. It was funny how an innocent infant, not even able to stand yet, was able to recognize those who were good to him. All the while, my ex-husband treated me with only disloyalty and distrust. How could a baby recognize the goodness in someone’s heart over an adult?Sophia gawked at her son’s actions, rage flitting over her face. “George, no!” she scolded. “She’s only going to hurt you!” Grabbing George’s tiny wrist, she yanked hard, forcefully pulling his hand away. George’s face scrunched up in pain and he began to sob, kicking his legs pitifully. Who treats their own son like that? I wondered. Did Sophia even care about her son, or was George just some tool to consolidate her position and win over William’s heart?“Stop!” I demanded, making Sophia jump on the spot. “Don’t you see you’ve hurt him?”William’s deep voice spoke up from behind us. “He’s hurt?” he fretted, coming over to inspect Georg
Caroline’s POV:They tried to poison little George! How dare they? I thought angrily to myself, the words nearly spilling out my mouth. Thankfully I was able to keep my lips sealed and not alarm them, but my blood boiled just beneath the surface. I knew Sophia was a lying, manipulative woman, but I never thought she would be this unscrupulous just to get rid of me. She risked her child’s life! I wouldn’t doubt if she’s always been this entitled, extreme egoist, only ever caring about herself and how she was perceived. What a shameless woman!Memories of the video Martin’s friend had sent me suddenly flashed back into my mind. I vividly recalled the man she had been leaning so fondly on again, and it now occurred to me why she was acting so despicable. Her relationship with William had finally broken down, hadn’t it? Had William finally brightened up enough to realize that he was being cheated on? If so, it seemed she was pulling every trick in the book in an effort to win him back. E
Caroline’s POV:My heart was akin to a drum in my chest, pounding away in my ears as I dreaded the thought of being caught. Although I was hidden behind a rather large tree, it wouldn’t be long until they eventually found me. What would happen if they discovered me? Sophia was already a ruthless woman who was willing to get me killed just to do away with me. Who knew how far she would go just to shut me up? My brain worked a mile a minute, desperately searching for any possible way for me to get out of this situation, but every road led to me being caught. Should I just make a run for it? “I think someone is eavesdropping on us,” Sophia growled, poison dripping from every word. “Sandra, go check it out. Now!”My eyes widened and my heart beat faster as the crunch of dry leaves grew ever closer, a signal that these two scheming women were about to find me. I tried to estimate my chances of having a real conflict with them if I was discovered, and they did not look good. My body was
Caroline’s POV:“George? William? Where are you?” I cried out, rushing from room to room in search of the pair. Was I too late? Had the nanny already taken George? Where was William? My heart pounded as I searched high and low for them, terrified that I was too slow and that something terrible had come to pass. I had to have searched every room twice, and by the time I was finally coming to accept that the nanny had already carried out Sophia’s awful plan, a curious voice interrupted my racing thoughts.“Miss Caroline?” croaked an aged voice. It was a familiar one I hadn’t heard in quite a while. I spun on my heel (the good one) to see Gerald, the butler. It was relieving to see a face I knew I could trust, but more importantly, cradled safe in his arms was little George. He smiled gummily at me and waved his little arms around with a giggle. I placed a hand to my pounding heart, sighing in great relief that George was safe and sound. Without thinking, I strolled over to the infant