CHAPTER 5
The door pushed open a mere two inches, revealing a sliver of pale hallway light and the faint silhouette of Elena standing motionless in the dark. She held a heavy metal candlestick in her right hand, her expression twisted into an unrecognizable grimace of pure malice and desperation.
"Ethan, darling, let me check on Lily; you look like you're about to collapse from lack of sleep," Elena whispered, her voice sickeningly sweet and unnatural. Ethan threw the door wide open, blocking the entrance completely with his broad shoulders and fixing her with a stare that could freeze fire.
"Try taking one more step toward my daughter's room, Elena, and you won't live to see the sunrise," Ethan warned in a low, terrifyingly calm voice. Elena recoiled as if struck physically, her grip tightening around the metal candlestick until her knuckles turned ghostly white.
"You are losing your mind, Ethan! I am her mother, and I have every right to check on my sick child!" Elena shrieked in a harsh, uncontrolled whisper. "Keep your voice down unless you want to wake the entire neighborhood and invite the police into our private lives," Ethan countered smoothly.
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Elena’s chest heaved rapidly beneath her dusty rose silk pajamas as she weighed her options, realizing she had lost the element of complete surprise. She lowered the candlestick slowly, forcing a terrifying, tight-lipped smile onto her face before turning back toward the master bedroom without another word.
Ethan watched her disappear into the shadows, knowing that the psychological warfare had only just begun and time was running out. He quietly locked Lily's bedroom door from the inside, sliding a heavy wooden chair beneath the handle as an extra layer of barricade.
