Chapter 13: The Conflict in the Family

The tension in the air was oppressive, but the Harrington mansion was surprisingly silent. I sensed it as soon as we entered the expansive foyer, with Williams taking deliberate steps in front of me. I had learnt to identify the harsh glint in his eyes and his set jaw as the quiet before the storm.

"Remain here," he remarked in a hurried tone.

"Why? What is happening?”

He answered, "It's family business," but his refusal to let me alone was evident from the way his fingers lingered on my arm.

I started to protest, but he had already left, vanishing into the opulent study at the end of the hallway. Behind him, the big oak doors slammed, and soon after, the muffled sound of heated voices came.

After a brief moment of hesitation, I walked down the hall and pressed my ear to the door.

"You're allowing her to sabotage everything!" Anger was evident in Marcel's piercing voice.

With a dangerously low tone, Williams retorted, "Freda has nothing to do with this." "Marcel, this is your mess, not hers."

"She is a distraction," yelled Marcel. "And a liability." “As you can see, the media has taken a strong interest in her. It won't be long before they unearth something beyond our control.”

Anger was seething behind my skin as I clinched my fists. A liability? To them, was that all I was?

"And what specifically do you recommend?" Williams enquired in a tone that was colder than I had ever heard.

Marcel stated frankly, "Send her away." "Cease this act of deception before it ruins the family."

The ensuing hush was deafening.

Williams's comments were steely when he eventually spoke. "My wife, Marcel, is Freda. She won't be leaving.”

“You are aware that she is a pawn!” Marcel's annoyance was evident in his raised voice. "Don't act like she's more than a tool for your purposes; you brought her into the world for your own reasons."

I recoiled as I heard something crash inside the study.

Williams' voice was barely above a whisper when he remarked, "You don't know anything about her," but it was clear that his tone was poisonous.

"Don't I?" Marcel fired back. "I am knowledgeable enough to recognise the flaws in your flawless little scheme. She is not as innocent as you believe, despite your belief that you can keep her in the dark. And after she learns the truth—”

Williams cut in, his voice firm and decisive, "She won't."

I strained to hear every word as I leaned closer.

"That's what you think," Marcel murmured, his tone beginning to grow ominous. “However, Williams, secrets have a way of surfacing. And she will despise you for it when they do.”

Abruptly, the door swung open, and I nearly lost my balance as I staggered back. Williams's eyes met me as he stood in the doorway, his face stormy.

"Freda, what are you doing here?" he questioned in a strained voice.

"I—" I stumbled, looking for a reason. “As I heard voices—”

Marcel stepped into view and remarked, "Of course she was listening." His eyes were cold and calculating as he smiled mockingly at me. "Williams, you underestimate her level of insight."

"Enough," Williams snapped at Marcel.

Marcel's hands went up in a gesture of simulated submission. "All right. Don't claim I didn't warn you, though.”

He gave me a final sneer before turning to walk away, his footsteps reverberating down the corridor.

Williams ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Freda, you shouldn't have been here."

Finally losing my temper, I retorted, "And you shouldn't have kept me in the dark." "What's happening, Williams? What do you not tell me?”

He paused, his face conflicted. "It's difficult."

"Then simplify it," I insisted. "I have a right to know the truth."

I briefly believed that he might inform me. Then his jaw tightened and he shook his head. "No, Freda. Just have faith in me, please.”

Have faith. Between us, the phrase hung like a frail thread that might break.

"All right," I responded in a chilly tone. "But since you won't even answer my questions, don't expect me to continue to comply."

I ignored the way his eyes pierced my back as I turned and left.

I kept thinking about the disagreement as I sat by myself in the guest suite later that evening. Marcel's remarks kept repeating in my head, each one piercing my doubts more deeply.

Was I only a piece in Williams' scheme? And what secrets did he desperately want to conceal?

I was startled out of my thoughts by a gentle knock on the door. When I opened it, Sophia was standing there with a knowing smile on her lips and a glass of wine in one hand.

She entered without waiting for an invitation, asking, "Trouble in paradise?"

"Sophia, what do you want?" Weary, I asked.

She handed me the glass and said, "Just to chat." "This seemed like something you could use."

I accepted the glass but refrained from drinking. "Save it if you're here to boast. That's enough for me for one evening.”

Sophia let out a low, throaty laugh that made my skin crawl. "Oh, Freda. You're incredibly charmingly innocent. However, that's what makes you so fascinating."

"What is the intended meaning of that?"

"It means you're in way over your head, my dear," she murmured, bending closer. “If you're not careful, you'll become collateral damage since this family doesn't play fair.”

Even though her comments made me shudder, I made myself look her in the eye. "I am capable of managing myself."

"Can you?" she enquired, her smile hardening. "Because it appears that you are already losing from where I am standing."

She turned and left before I could reply, leaving me to think on my own.

Her comments weighed hard on my shoulders as I gazed at the wine glass in my hand.

But then I became aware of an oddity. There was a little bit of folded paper in the bottom of the glass.

I pulled it out and unfolded it with shaking hands.

* "The truth will free you." Midnight. The Harrington Estate Library*

I stared at the note, my heart pounding. Someone wanted the truth to come to me.

But could I really take what I was going to find out?