Chapter 12 - THE FALSE MOTHERThe woman at the altar looked nothing like Elena.
That was the first thing Elena noticed.
She was taller, sharper, dressed in cream silk that had no business inside an abandoned convent. Her hair was dark and smooth, cut at her jaw. Diamonds flashed at her ears. Her mouth held the calm cruelty of someone who had rehearsed this moment and expected applause.
In her arms, Mila whimpered.
Elena took one step forward.
Caden’s hand closed gently but firmly around her wrist.
The woman smiled at that.
“How touching,” she said. “The king restraining the waitress.”
Elena’s eyes never left Mila. “Give me my daughter.”
The woman tilted her head. “Your daughter?”
Mila’s small face crumpled. She began to cry harder.
Elena felt the sound tear through her body.
“Give her to me.”
“Careful,” the woman said. “Children are sensitive to tension.”
Caden’s voice was cold. “Put her down, Celeste.”
Elena turned slightly.
“You know her?”
Celeste smiled wider. “Of course he does.”
Caden’s expression did not change, but the air around him did.
“Elena,” he said, “this is Celeste Marrow. Seraphina’s cousin.”
Elena’s mind raced.
Seraphina’s charity. Rosehaven. The Voss family. The court order. Someone claiming to represent the biological mother.
Celeste bounced Mila gently, but the baby resisted, turning her face away.
“I was supposed to be their mother,” Celeste said.
Elena stared at her.
“What?”
Celeste’s eyes flashed. “After Seraphina died, the families needed continuity. Caden needed heirs. The board needed a woman of proper blood beside him. I was the obvious choice.”
Caden looked disgusted. “You were never a choice.”
“You were grieving. Vivian knew time would soften you.”
“My mother did not offer you my children.”
“No,” Celeste said. “Crane did.”
Elena felt Caden go still beside her.
Celeste’s smile thinned. “He understood what your mother refused to accept. A waitress carrying heirs was a liability. A grieving surrogate could disappear into paperwork. But a Marrow woman raising Voss children? That would stabilize everything.”
Elena’s hands curled.
“So you pretended to be me.”
“I signed papers for a child no one wanted counted.”
“I wanted her.”
“You didn’t know she existed.”
“Because you helped steal her!”
Mila screamed then, a sharp panicked cry.
Elena surged forward.
Celeste stepped back and lifted a small syringe from behind the baby’s blanket.
Caden’s men raised weapons.
Elena froze.
Caden’s voice dropped. “Celeste.”
“It’s just a sedative,” Celeste said. “Don’t be dramatic.”
Elena could barely breathe.
“Please,” she whispered. “She’s a baby.”
Celeste looked at her with sudden hatred.
“So were they when you gave them up.”
“I didn’t give them up.”
“You signed a contract.”
“They lied.”
“Everyone lies in contracts. Adults know that.”
Caden moved slightly, blocking Elena.
Celeste noticed and laughed.
“Oh, now you protect her? Where was this concern when your children screamed themselves sick every night? Where was this tenderness when nurses begged you to hold Nico and you stood outside the nursery door like a coward?”
The words hit their mark.
Caden flinched.
Elena saw it.
Celeste did too.
“Do you know why Sofia speaks now?” Celeste whispered. “Because she remembers. Not you, Elena. Fear. The night Nadia found Baby D’s file, Sofia saw what happened.”
Caden’s eyes went lethal.
“What happened to Nadia?”
Celeste’s smile vanished.
“She fell.”
Elena whispered, “You killed her.”
Celeste’s face hardened. “She interfered.”
Mila’s cries became weaker.
The syringe pressed closer to her thigh.
Elena raised both hands.
“Okay,” she said quickly. “Okay. Tell me what you want.”
Celeste looked pleased.
“There it is. Finally, someone sensible.”
“What do you want?”
Celeste’s eyes moved to Caden.
“Marriage.”
The chapel seemed to tilt.
Caden’s voice was flat. “No.”
Celeste’s hand tightened around Mila.
Elena’s heart stopped.
“Say no again,” Celeste said softly.
Caden did not move.
Elena turned to him. “Caden.”
His jaw clenched.
Celeste laughed. “Look at that. The waitress understands faster than you.”
Elena looked back at Celeste.
“If he marries you, you give Mila back?”
“I give all four children a proper mother.”
Elena stepped forward carefully. “They already have one.”
Celeste’s eyes narrowed.
Elena kept moving, slow enough not to startle her.
“You’re right about one thing,” Elena said. “I signed a contract. I thought that meant I had no right to love them. But they knew me anyway. Luca knew. Nico knew. Sofia knew.” Her voice shook. “And Mila knows too.”
Mila had gone quiet.
Her wet hazel eyes fixed on Elena.
Celeste noticed and looked down.
That was all Caden needed.
He moved.
Fast.
Terrifyingly fast.
His hand struck Celeste’s wrist. The syringe flew across the chapel. Elena lunged forward as Celeste stumbled, and Mila fell into Elena’s arms.
For one second, Elena had her.
Warm. Small. Alive.
Then gunfire exploded through the stained glass.
Caden grabbed Elena and Mila, throwing them behind the altar as bullets tore through stone and wood. His men returned fire. Celeste screamed. Someone shouted Crane’s name.
Mila wailed against Elena’s chest.
Elena curled over her, shielding her with her body.
Caden crouched beside them, gun in hand, blood running down his sleeve.
“You’re hit,” Elena gasped.
“Not enough.”
A shadow moved above them.
Elena looked up.
Celeste stood behind the altar, face twisted, a fallen gun in her hand.
Caden raised his weapon.
But Celeste smiled at Elena.
“You think this ends with you holding her?”
She lifted her other hand.
A small remote.
Caden’s face changed.
“Elena, run.”
May you like
The convent bells began to ring by themselves.
Then the floor beneath the altar opened.
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