“Did she agree to the treatment?”
“Yes. She had an extended psychiatric hospitalization where they were able to stabilize her on medications for her bipolar disorder. She attended regular therapy. After that, she checked into substance abuse rehab. Upon discharge from both the psychiatric hospitalization and the substance abuse rehab, I’d never seen her so healthy. Her doctors and I had to work on convincing her, but while she was still in rehab, she agreed to come with me to San Francisco. Our marriage wasn’t what it was—it never would be—but it was enough that she was growing stronger during those weeks we lived in San Francisco, away from the influence of Noah.”
“You never did tell me how you reacted toward Noah after you saw the two of them together… after Elizabeth told you what he’d been doing to her.”
Our hands were still clasped together. I felt a tremor pass through him. He glanced at me reluctantly.
“Evan?”
“We had a blowout. I hit him. Hard. He went down. It felt fantastic, Anna,” he admitted with a quiet, terrible intensity. “I wanted to do more.”
“Did you?”
“No. I regret it. Sometimes. Noah managed to pick himself up off the floor.”
“Did he admit to his abuse of Elizabeth?”
His mouth slanted angrily in memory. “Yes, essentially, although he didn’t consider it abuse, of course. For a narcissistic sociopath like Noah, there’s always a good defense for his behavior, even when the behavior is utterly indefensible. It was an ugly war of words between us after that. I won’t go into all the details, except to say that Noah took off his mask during our confrontation. I threatened him with public exposure. He threatened me with sabotaging Elizabeth’s treatment and separating us, and eliminating what he considered to be my unhealthy influence over her once and for all.”
“How did he plan to do that?”
“He claimed he had the power to do it, just by speaking to her. One phone call to the hospital. A brief visit after she was discharged. Not only that. He insinuated that if Elizabeth ever revealed his abuse, if she turned on him and went to the police, he would stop her. End her.”
I stilled. “He admitted to you he would kill her if she told the truth?”
“Not in those words. I’m telling you just what he said. He said he’d end her. It was the look in his eyes when he said it that made me think he meant it literally. He wasn’t talking about cutting her off from her trust fund, or ruining her reputation socially. He meant end her life. I was afraid he was telling the absolute truth. No… part of me was certain he was. But at that point, I’d only started to realize the depth of his power over Elizabeth.
“So we left things at a standoff for the time being. Elizabeth’s continued stability and the hope of improvement had to be my one goal. Noah wouldn’t try to contact Elizabeth and interfere with her treatment or life as long as I didn’t publicly expose him for what he’d been doing to his daughter for nearly her whole life. I hated having to agree to that, but I didn’t know what else to do to keep her safe.”
Evan lowered his head at that point, his weariness palpable.
“After Noah and I fought,” he said, “and while Elizabeth was still in the hospital, I had the corridor between the twins filled with rock and soil, and the doors sealed.”
“Did Noah know that you’d done it?”
“Yes. It would have been impossible to disguise the construction crew onsite.”
“He didn’t confront you about it?”
Evan lifted his head slowly. “No. Part of me wanted him to. I wanted to finish that fight. But he never did. I just saw him once while the men were working. He was standing on the grounds, watching. You should have seen the look on his face.”
“What was it?” I asked, reaching to brush back his hair.
“Smug contempt. Like the bastard knew something I didn’t.”
He abruptly caught my stroking hand in his. “God, I hate him, Anna,” he said with such fierce intensity, for a split second, I was frightened. But then I felt the trembling in his flesh. It nearly undid me, to experience my strong, virile husband shaking with rage.
“You’re going to go on with this, aren’t you?” I asked him. “You’re going to continue with this vendetta until either Madaster is exposed, or you’re dead.”
“No.” He said it so passionately, that I started back.
“That’s what I’ve started to realize, being here with you. I crave seeing Noah punished for what he’s done. I wanted it so much that it consumed years of my life. I grew bent on revenge. That’s what he does to the people around him. He makes us bent. Twisted.
“When I came up with this plan, I thought there was no way he could harm you, though. But now, given what happened to you yesterday in the sauna, and the rock avalanche on the road… even the fact that those two thugs were here on the property, removing stuff out of the boathouse—likely at Noah’s request—I’m starting to think I’ve overestimated Noah’s vulnerability. I’ve underestimated his potential reach.”
“You think Noah was responsible for those things?”
“I’m not positive. But I can’t take the chance. Let’s leave Les Jumeaux, as soon as we can. When I came home early from San Francisco, that’s what I had in mind. This is what I’ve learned in the past few months, being with you. I hate him. But I love you more, Anna.”