Chapter 7

"Why?"

Caleb's voice dragged me back to reality. His hand was still clamped on my jaw, his eyes a network of red veins.

My gaze slid from his face to the old scar on his wrist.

That was the only truth I remembered.

"Caleb," I said, my voice soft but steady. "You don't understand your brother at all."

"He was a monster."

The air went dead silent.

Time paused for a moment.

Then, he laughed.

There was no warmth in that laugh.

"Lena, to escape blame, you'd even insult a dead man?"

I pushed him away, furious. "I'm not insulting him!"

"You think he loved you? No. You weren't his brother; you were his toy."

"You think he loved *me*? No, to him, tormenting me was more interesting than loving me."

I didn't get to say more.

A knock sounded at the door.

Mr. Davies's respectful voice came from outside: "Mr. [Caleb's Last Name], the [Lena's Last Name] family has sent a surveillance video."

"Bring it in."

Mr. Davies pushed the door open, holding a tablet, his head down, not daring to look at the scene inside.

Caleb took the tablet.

The screen lit up, showing the entrance to the [Lena's Last Name] family mansion.

A black Bentley was parked by the side of the road. The door opened, and Elias pulled me into the passenger seat.

The car started and sped away.

The timestamp in the bottom right corner showed the night he died.

The video ended there, abruptly. This was the "pledge of loyalty" from my family. With this video, they were telling me, and telling Caleb, that Elias's death had nothing to do with them. It was me, Lena, who, on the night of my engagement, ran off with my sister's fiancé.

Everything I had said before instantly became a joke.

Caleb slowly turned around.

The rage, the confusion on his face, all vanished, replaced by a suppressed calm.

"You were there when my brother died," he stated.

"How did my brother die?"

"Or... " He paused, his voice tinged with rage, "did *you* kill him?"

My heart sank to the bottom, cold and chilling.

I was held captive in Elias’s room.

Meals arrived three times a day, delivered by a maid to the door. Other than that, I saw no one.

The windows were boarded shut, the door locked from the outside.

This became my prison.