Chapter 13: The News
After listening to William's explanation and piecing together the fragments of last night's horror, the haze of panic and confusion finally began to clear. His warm, steady voice, laced with an unexpectedly light tone, worked like a balm, helping Anna relax—if only slightly.
Her mind was a whirlwind of questions, but one stood out above the rest. "What are you doing here?"
William chuckled, the soft rustling of fabric growing louder as he shifted in his seat. "Really? That's what you want to ask me right now?"
He had a point—it was a ridiculous question given the circumstances. But she couldn't help it. The words had slipped out before she could think them through. Parting her lips, she scrambled to find a reasonable excuse for her curiosity, but William spoke first.
"Let me ask you something instead," he said, his voice losing its teasing melody. "Who did you cross to end up like this? Was it your husband? Did he piss off the wrong people? Or was it your aunt? Does she still gamble like a maniac?"
Anna bit her tongue, the weight of his words pressing down on her. She had no logical answer—at least not one that made sense yet. Marienne had drugged her, that much she was sure of. And the man who had kidnapped her had said Marienne wanted her dead.
But why?
She already knew Robert was divorcing her, and Aunt Lilian had erased her from the family registry. She had no wealth, no power, nothing of value to offer.
So what was Marienne's motive?
"It was my husband's mistress," Anna finally admitted, her fingers tightening around the fabric of the duvet. "Marienne Rochester. She drugged my drink when I was at the Diamond Hotel, and when I woke up, I was... well, where you found me. The man who took me said she hired him to kill me."
William's jaw tensed as his gaze settled on the stark white bandages covering her face. His pulse quickened, his patience thinning. "And why would she do that?"