Chapter 171

[Evelyn’s POV]

“You’re not going back to that house,” Alexander said swiftly.

I’d finally gotten the first decent night’s sleep I’d had in weeks. My muscles weren’t as tense as they normally would have been and even my nerves weren’t heavily strained. I was gearing up to kick myself for letting this stupidity go on for so long.

Just being enveloped in Alexander’s arms was enough to ease the pain that had been hammering down on me for the last several days. No matter, he and I were able to work through the issues and now there was truly nothing standing between us anymore.

No more secrets. No more misunderstandings. No more barriers.

But, it went without saying that there were a multitude of problems that still needed to be dealt with. Isabella—being that main problem.

I’d just gotten out of the shower and went to grab one of the towels. Alexander stared back at me through the mirror above the sink. His expression was deeply troubled and I couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t as though I wanted to go back to the very place where I’d nearly lost my life.

However, I didn’t have much of a choice. While Alexander may have placed Liam’s pack on temporary lockdown, there was no telling what Isabella would try to do. I couldn’t risk the chance of her finding a way to sneak back to the house.

If it meant coming face-to-face with the darkest moment of my life, so be it.

“Alexander,” I sighed.

“No. The answer is no,” he pressed.

I let out a long breath and shook my head. “I hate to break it to you, but I’m not seeking your permission to go. This is me telling you what I need to do.”

I could feel Alexander’s intense stare from across the room. Of course, I didn’t expect him to be on board with the idea. Hell, I was shocked enough that he was willing to even let me explain my position in all of it.

“I need to go back to that house so I can prove that she was the one responsible for trying to kill my brother. I heard what you and Oliver were saying back in the office yesterday. If we can’t make the allegations of her being the orchestrator of my murder attempt stick, then we’re going to need a fallback. Henry said that he found traces of Hemlock in Edward’s IV bags.”

Alexander’s eyes grew large. “Hemlock? How the hell would she manage to get her hands on that?”

I gently shook my head. “My guess is that same way she managed to get her hands on that goddamn aphrodisiac,” I muttered. “Anyway, apart from searching for the Hemlock directly, I need to locate the place where she was distilling it.”

He and I both knew there was no other way around it. I needed to go back to that house.

I finished drying myself off and slipped on my clothes. While I was typing back my hair, Alexander came up behind me, still holding my gaze through the mirror. He wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me back till I was pressed firmly against his chest.

He pressed his cheek to the side of my head and let out a long, deflated exhale.

“I know what needs to be done,” he said. “I’m just concerned about the possible psychological effects that place could have on you. It’s one thing to face Samantha, but it’s an entirely different situation when your plan is to head back to the actual place in which you were tortured.”

He had a point. I knew I was taking a risk. For crying out loud, I had just revealed my scars to him no less than twelve hours ago. And now I was planning to head back to the scene where it all went down.

It may not have been the wisest decision, but we didn’t exactly have all the time in the world.

“I just don’t want to see you triggered and fall into another slump.”

I rested my hands over his arm. “I know.”

...

On the way back to Silverwood, I tried not to think about the unfathomable dread that was gradually building inside of me. Alexander must have picked up on the worry that was spreading and asked me more about Henry’s theory of the use of Hemlock.

I appreciated the distraction and was more than happy to obtain another opinion on the matter. Surprisingly enough, Alexander seemed to know a bit about the vicious properties of Hemlock. He was well aware of the poison’s fast-acting ability and its near untraceable nature.

From what I was able to gather, he was rather impressed by Henry's capability to uncover the truth, but I wasn’t about to point that out.

“From what you told me about the liquidation process, it only seems logical that she would do it outside,” he commented. “You mentioned that you had a greenhouse back home.”

I nodded. “Yes. Granted it wasn’t anything like the one we have at the manor, but this one has a decently sized table inside of it.”

As the car pulled up to the house, my stomach felt like it had instantly filled with lead. The air thickened in my lungs, making it rather difficult for me to focus. A chilling numb sensation fell over me as Alexander helped me out of the car.

“You alright?” he asked.

All I could do was nod. Although I promised Alexander that I would no longer hide behind the mask while we were together at home, I decided to wear it today. He, on the other hand, had decided that he was no longer going to hide behind his own lies.

Both the wheelchair and the mask were no longer going to be a part of him. He’d claimed that it was time to move past all of it, not caring who knew the truth.

I hoped to live with that kind of confidence one day...

“Where is everyone?” I asked absently.

As the two of us stepped into the house, we were quick to notice that there wasn’t a single staff member about. Most of the lights were still off which only added a dismal, sinister feeling to the place.

A vicious jolt raced through me when we came upon the living room. Alexander quickly stopped moving and came to my side.

“It’s okay. We don’t have to go into that room,” he whispered. “We’re going to go at your pace.”

I went rigid. He curved his hand around the side of my head, guiding me back toward the main drag of the hallway. It was like he knew what had happened in that room...

I hated how my own childhood home had become plagued with terrible, venomous memories. All because of Isabella and her awful daughter. It was heartbreaking.

“This way,” I whispered.

I led us back toward the gardens, or more so where the gardens used to be. Isabella had clearly let the place go to hell. Everything was way overgrown and deeply due for some general maintenance. Nonetheless, I rounded the corner where the greenhouse stood.

“Hold on,” I said. I noticed the large padlock on the door which never used to be there. My stomach coiled with a knowing feeling of dread.

“Why keep a lock on the door unless there was something you were trying to hide?” I asked.

I spotted a nearby rock and bent down to pick it up. With both hands, I sought out all my repressed anger and slammed it down on the lock. It took a few good swings before the padlock split in half and fell to the ground in pieces.

Alexander reached for the handle and the two of us slipped inside.