Evadne pressed her lips together, brows furrowing as she sank into a stifling, oppressive silence.

Elspeth was out of her mind, Chad tormented animals for sport, and then there was Chad's uncle-the Austin family heir-who had murdered his lover in a fashion so brutal it still echoed in whispers...

A chilling thought crept over her, making her blood run cold-

Could it be that everyone in the Austin family was, in some way, unhinged?

Was Chad's mother's mental illness something he inherited too? Was that what drove him to these extremes?

"Is Chad... truly unstable?"

Jason shook his head, stunned, as if the idea wouldn't fit. "But he never seemed off, not at all. He always looked perfectly composed, almost coldly so!"

"That's exactly what scares me most." Alva's voice was raw with worry, her eyes rimmed red. "What if he's just been pretending all these years, hiding his true nature so he could draw close to Mrs. Abernathy? What if he's planning something? What if he means to hurt you?"

But right now, there's no real proof he's suffering from any diagnosed mental disorder," Evadne said, forcing herself to steady her

wait-I just remembered

Austin's eldest son, Mason, was charged with murder. He was

evaluations, it could only

lashes casting shadows over her eyes. She

to stay as far away from Chad as possible! There's an old saying 'the child is father to the man'-people rarely change at their core! After disappearing for twenty years, do you think he'd just suddenly come


own forehead, alarmed. "Oh no! What if he's here to compete

real-Evadne's throat felt tight, as if invisible hands were squeezing the air

a long moment, she looked up at Alva, her eyes shining with fierce

I have even more reason not to

stared at her, dumbfounded.

intends to play by the rules, then I have no

Thaddeus harm, I won't stand by and let it

lifted her

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