CHAPTER 3

              Isabelle felt the pain in her father's voice and she would’ve done anything to chase this pain away. Her mother wanted to abandon them... Her family was crumbling in front of her and she didn't know what to do to stop this. What could she tell Michelle to make her change her mind?

“I've said everything I had to say, Andrew. I will take only a small suitcase with me. I'll have the rest sent to me at my new address in a few days. Tomorrow morning, first thing, I'll talk to my lawyer. I suggest you do the same thing. Once the divorce is finalized, I think I'll go back to New York,” Michelle said and started going down the stairs.

                 Isabelle abandoned her hiding spot and started walking in the direction of her parents. She had to say something too, she was also a member of this family. They had to listen to her. But the very moment she opened her mouth to call them, the most unreal scene happened right before her eyes.

“The hell you are! Not while I'm still breathing!” Isabelle heard her father screaming and saw him grab Michelle's arm again.

            Andrew slipped in the attempt to pull his wife towards him and they both lost their balance. Andrew and Michelle both fell down the stairs. Isabelle started screaming and ran towards them trying to take her father's arm and stop their fall. But both of them weighed too much for a girl of her stature and all that Isabelle could do was watch her parents' bodies roll down the stairs ending up on the marble floor in front of the main entrance.

“Mom! Dad!” she yelled from the top of her lungs and started going down the stairs quickly. “Lucy! Lucy! Help me!” she yelled again even louder.

             Mrs. Townsend, their housekeeper, made her appearance and turned on the lights to see the reason for all that noise. Perhaps Mrs. Michelle was late again and was fighting with Mr. Andrew in front of Belle. But the image that appeared before her eyes hit her right in the stomach. She saw the bodies of her employers next to each other, lying at the base of the stairs, completely still, and Isabelle crying desperately. She covered her mouth because she didn’t want to scare Belle even more than she was already and she took the phone to call for help.

“Hello? Miss, we need help right away!” she said, staying away from Michelle and Andrew’s bodies. “My employer and his wife fell down the stairs and they aren’t moving! Oh, I have to get closer and see if they’re still breathing… All right...”

               Lucy Townsend stopped next to Michelle and took her hand to check her pulse. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She was already dead, probably the fall down the stairs had broken her neck. She looked at Isabelle's teary face. She let go of Michelle's hand and then took Andrew's hand, but the moment she touched him, she heard him moan because of the pain. Lucy put the phone back to her ear and resumed the conversation with the 911 operator.

“Miss, my employer is... I don't feel any pulse. But her husband is still alive. All right, we won't touch him. But please... just send someone to help us. Quickly! Yes, I won't put down the phone. All right, we’ll be waiting!"

               She made a sign to Isabelle to come down slowly and to stay with her. The girl quickly descended the stairs, but as she passed her father, she heard him moan again and stopped next to Andrew. She knew she shouldn't move him, because it could make the situation worse, but she couldn't bear to see him in so much pain.

"Daddy!" Isabelle exclaimed. She sat next to him and took his hand. “Daddy, please be strong! Help is already on its way. You'll see, everything will be just fine. You will recover very soon." She kept squeezing his hand, she kept talking to him, but she didn't know if what she was saying to her dad was true. Her mother was already dead, she couldn't stand to lose him too. “Daddy, you must hang on! I need you so much!” she begged Andrew kissing his hand.

"Come, sweet child, you can't touch him!" the housekeeper told her. She took her hands in hers and tried to make Isabelle stand on her feet. “You can't touch him, we don't know how severe his wounds are. Come on, calm down, things will work out, you’ll see.”

“Lucy, my daddy is in so much pain... I have to do something or he'll die like my mom. Please, tell me what I can do...” she asked the housekeeper, continuing to cry.

“My sweet girl...”

              Andrew opened his eyes and saw his daughter's face covered in tears. He tried to talk to her, to tell her something, but he couldn't say a word. He moved his hand slowly, took Michelle's, and squeezed it. Michelle's body had a very strange, almost inhuman position caused by the fall. The expression on her face was disturbing, her eyes were open and still, she had a creepy half-smile drawn on her lips. Andrew closed his eyes, moaned again, and tears rolled across his face. Isabelle kissed her father's hand and closed her eyes too. Lucy helped her to stand up and she hid Isabelle’s face in her warm embrace. Then, she took Isabelle and they both sat in an armchair near the entrance. Isabelle's weeping was heartbreaking, but she held the young girl in her arms until the ambulance and the police arrived.

               Michelle's lifeless body was locked in a black bag and placed on a stretcher. Isabelle looked at her body as she was carried away to the coroner’s car. Andrew instead was carefully taken to the ambulance. The paramedics had managed to immobilize him in order to prevent any kind of paralysis. Isabelle told herself that she had to go with her father to the hospital, she couldn't leave him alone and she couldn't stay alone in this house.

“Lucy, let’s go, we have to go to the hospital. I have to stay with my daddy...”

“Sweet girl, the hospital is not a place for young girls such as yourself. Maybe we should stay here...” she replied caressing Isabelle’s face with infinite tenderness.

"Lucy, come with me or I'll go alone!" Isabelle said raising her voice for the first time. “It's about my dear daddy, all right? I can't leave him alone! I can’t lose him too!”

"All right, child, let me call Anthony. He will take us straight to the hospital."

             While they were waiting for the driver, Isabelle looked at the two cars that took her parents away, one to the hospital and the other one to the morgue. She leaned against the door to avoid falling to the floor. No, there was no time for fainting now... Her father was in danger to lose his life and she had to be strong for him. Later, she would have enough time to cry her mother’s death, but for now, she had to stay calm and to stay by her father’s side while he would come out of this hell. She was Isabelle Baldwin, she was her father’s daughter and she had to be strong for him and for herself too.