Chapter 5 - THE PRICE OF SILENCE
By sunrise, news vans were parked outside the Vale estate.
Someone had leaked the arrest.
The first headline appeared before 6:00 a.m.
TECH BILLIONAIRE CALLS POLICE ON WIFE AFTER DOMESTIC DISPUTE.
The second headline was worse.
NANNY AT CENTER OF BILLION-DOLLAR DIVORCE SCANDAL.
Photographs of Elena appeared across social media.
Reporters found her old apartment.
They found her community college records.
They found the debt left by her mother’s cancer treatment.
By breakfast, strangers were calling her a liar, a gold digger, and Adrian’s secret mistress.
Elena stared at the messages on her phone.
Her hands shook more with each one.
Adrian took the phone away from her.
“Stop reading.”
“They know where my sister works.”
“We will protect her.”
“They are saying I planned this.”
“I know.”
Elena looked at him.
“Do you believe me?”
Adrian seemed offended by the question.
“I watched Celeste frame you.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
She forced herself to hold his gaze.
“Do you believe I had nothing to do with the missing drive?”
Adrian did not answer quickly enough.
Elena’s face changed.
She stood.
“You checked my background before hiring me.”
“Of course.”
“You monitored every room where I worked.”
“For Sophie’s safety.”
“You searched my bag last night.”
“Marcus searched everyone’s belongings.”
“But I was the one lying on the floor.”
Adrian stepped toward her.
“I am trying to understand how Damien entered my property.”
“And I’m trying to understand why everyone with money thinks poor people are automatically for sale.”
The words struck him.
Elena removed the cold pack from her wrist.
“I am leaving with Sophie for Claire’s house.”
“You cannot leave the city.”
“I am not your prisoner.”
“No, but you are a witness.”
“I was also the victim.”
Adrian lowered his voice.
“I know.”
“No.”
Elena shook her head.
“You know what the cameras recorded.”
“That is not the same as knowing what it felt like to realize one false accusation could destroy my entire life.”
She walked out before he could respond.
Thirty minutes later, Harold Price held a press conference outside the Beverly Hills courthouse.
Celeste stood beside him in oversized sunglasses.
She had been released pending further investigation.
Harold claimed the footage had been edited.
He suggested Adrian had staged the incident to avoid paying Celeste under their prenuptial agreement.
Then Celeste stepped toward the microphones.
“My husband has always been obsessed with control.”
She wiped away a tear.
“He records everyone.”
“He monitors everyone.”
“And when I discovered his inappropriate relationship with our nanny, he created a story to silence me.”
The accusation exploded across every major network.
At Claire’s house, Elena watched in disbelief.
Sophie stood behind her.
“That’s not true,” the child whispered.
Elena turned off the television.
Her phone rang.
The caller ID showed an unknown number.
She answered cautiously.
A distorted male voice spoke.
“You saw the safe.”
Elena froze.
“You saw Damien.”
The caller paused.
“Tell Adrian you remember nothing.”
“What happens if I don’t?”
May you like
The voice became almost gentle.
“Then the next person pushed to the floor will be Sophie.”
