Chapter 3 - THE ACCUSATIONFor Elena, the world seemed to stop.
The pool.
The lights.
Leo's crying.
Everything disappeared behind Victoria's five words.
“She tried to kill him.”
Marcus stared at Elena.
His son was soaked.
Elena was soaked.
The stroller was at the bottom of the pool.
And Victoria was crying.
“Elena?”
His voice sounded almost unrecognizable.
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
Victoria rushed toward Marcus.
“I saw everything!”
“You're lying.”
“She pushed the stroller!”
Elena stared at her.
“You pushed him.”
Victoria gasped theatrically.
Marcus looked between them.
“What?”
“She did it!”
Elena pointed at Victoria.
“I saw the stroller going into the water. She was standing right beside it.”
Victoria burst into louder sobs.
“Marcus, she's trying to blame me!”
Leo cried against Elena's chest.
Marcus stepped closer.
“Give me my son.”
Elena instinctively tightened her arms.
Not because she wanted to keep Leo from his father.
Because something about Marcus's expression frightened her.
“Marcus, listen to me first.”
“Give me my son.”
“Please.”
Victoria whispered from behind him.
“She almost murdered your baby.”
Something inside Marcus broke.
His terror became rage.
“That is my son!”
“I KNOW!”
Elena's scream shocked everyone.
Tears filled her eyes.
“I know who he is because I just went ten feet underwater to bring him back!”
Marcus froze.
For half a second.
Only half.
Victoria saw the hesitation.
She stepped closer.
“She pushed him first.”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“She realized someone might see her, so she jumped in afterward.”
“That doesn't even make sense!”
“You wanted to look like a hero!”
Elena stared at Victoria.
The cruelty behind the tears was unmistakable now.
Marcus stepped between them.
“Elena, give him to me.”
Elena slowly handed Leo over.
Marcus pressed the baby against his chest.
Leo coughed.
Marcus's face collapsed with fear.
Victoria touched his shoulder.
“That woman tried to take him away from you.”
Elena saw exactly what Victoria was doing.
Fear.
Confusion.
Manipulation.
Every word was designed to turn Marcus's terror into anger.
“Marcus.”
He looked at Elena.
“Look at me.”
Her voice trembled.
“I saved your son.”
Victoria whispered—
“She is lying.”
Marcus turned toward Elena.
And raised his hand.
Elena's eyes widened.
“Marcus—”
The slap cracked across the terrace.
Elena fell.
Her shoulder slammed against the limestone.
Silence.
Even Victoria stopped crying.
Elena slowly lifted her head.
Blood appeared at the corner of her lip.
Marcus stood frozen.
His breathing was heavy.
For the first time, something uncertain entered his expression.
Elena looked at him.
She didn't scream.
Didn't insult him.
Didn't beg.
She simply whispered—
“You didn't even ask me what happened.”
Marcus said nothing.
Elena's eyes moved past him.
Toward Victoria.
And Victoria smiled.
Only for a second.
But Elena saw it.
And in that instant, Elena understood something terrifying.
This wasn't an accident.
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Victoria had planned something.
Maybe much more than the pool.
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