The house was a tomb at 2:00 AM.

Elise slipped out of her room. She knew the guard rotation. The night shift guy took a smoke break at 2:05.

She crept down the hallway. The carpet swallowed her footsteps.

Elise saw a sliver of yellow light under the study door.

Voices.

She pressed herself against the wall. She moved closer, inch by inch.

The door was cracked open a fraction.

"...reckless, Jarret," Joyce's voice hissed.

Elise froze. Her blood turned to ice.

Did she say Jarret?

Maybe she stumbled. Maybe she meant Jayden.

"Stop calling me that," a male voice replied. "I am Jayden now. You have to get used to it. And tell the maids to start closing doors properly. This entire wing should be locked down."

Elise clamped a hand over her mouth to stop the scream.

It was him. Jarret.

"Cristine is a liability," Joyce warned. "If she talks..."

"She won't," Jarret said. His voice was cold, arrogant. "She loves me. She knows I did this for us. For the campaign."

"You killed your brother for her? For politics?" Joyce asked. She didn't sound horrified. She sounded tired. Like she was discussing a bad investment.

"Jayden was weak," Jarret said. "He was going to die anyway. He was useless. The world loves a dead hero and a surviving soldier who carries on the legacy. It's perfect narrative."

Tears streamed down Elise's face. Her husband was a monster. A sociopath who had sent his twin to die in his place.

"What about Elise?" Joyce asked.

"She's annoying," Jarret said casually. "But we need the trust fund."

Elise held her breath.

"Once she signs the POA," Jarret continued, "we can... arrange an accident. A car crash. Or an overdose. She's 'hysterical with grief,' remember?"

Elise's knees buckled. She reached out blindly to steady herself.

Her hand hit a porcelain vase on a side table.

It wobbled. Clink. Clink.

The sound was tiny, but in the silence, it sounded like a gunshot.

The voices in the study stopped instantly.

"Did you hear that?" Jarret asked.

Footsteps. Heavy, fast footsteps approaching the door.

Panic exploded in Elise's chest.

She looked around. Nowhere to run. The hall was too long.

There was a small door to her left-the dumbwaiter access, used for linens.

Elise scrambled inside. She pulled the door shut just as the study door flew open.

She peered through the slats of the vent.

Jarret stood in the hallway. He wasn't using the cane. He looked strong, dangerous, and very much alive.

He looked left. He looked right.

His eyes lingered on the closet door where Elise was hiding.

Elise stopped breathing. Her heart was pounding so hard she thought he could hear it.

He took a step toward her.

Then, a floorboard settled somewhere else in the house. Creak.

Jarret paused. "Just the old house settling," he muttered.

He turned and went back into the study.

Elise slid down to the floor of the closet. She was shaking uncontrollably. Her teeth chattered.

They were going to kill her.

Elise stayed in the closet until the sun came up.

When she finally crept back to her room, she went straight to the bathroom and vomited.

It wasn't just fear. It was a deep, physical sickness that had been plaguing her for days.

Nina came in with a breakfast tray.

Elise grabbed her arm and dragged her into the bathroom. She turned on the shower full blast.

"Elise?" Nina looked scared.

"He's alive," Elise whispered frantically. "Jarret is alive. He's pretending to be Jayden."

Nina looked at Elise like she had lost her mind. "Elise, you're in shock..."

"I heard them!" Elise hissed. "They killed Jayden! They switched places! And they want to kill me once I sign the papers!"

Nina stared at Elise. She saw the terror in Elise's eyes. She saw the truth.

"Okay," she said. Her voice shook. "Okay. We get you out."

"Tonight," Nina said. "During the staff shift change at 6 PM. The back gate is usually unguarded for ten minutes."

Elise nodded. She felt another wave of nausea. She retched into the sink.

Nina rubbed Elise's back. Then she stopped.

She looked at the calendar on the wall. She looked at Elise.

"Elise..." she said slowly. "When was your last period?"

Elise froze. She counted back. The wedding. The stress.

"The wedding night," she whispered.

"You might be pregnant," Nina said.

Elise stared at her stomach. "No. Not his child. Not the monster's child."

But then, a memory flashed. The wedding night. The gentle hands. The hesitation. The callouses.

Jayden.

If Jarret was the monster... who was the man in her bed that night?

Jarret had left the room to take a call. The man who came in was different.

Oh god.

Did she sleep with Jayden? Was Jayden the one who held her? Was Jayden the father?

The man they murdered.

Elise sank to the floor. The tragedy was suffocating.

"We have to go," Elise said. "I can't let them raise this child."

She packed the cash into the lining of her coat. She dressed in dark clothes.

"I'll go scout the perimeter," Nina said. "Wait here."

She left.

Elise waited.

One hour passed. Two.

The sun started to set.

Nina didn't come back.

There was a knock on the door. It wasn't the secret knock. It was a heavy, authoritative pounding.

The door opened.

Joyce stood there. She was smiling thinly.

"Elise," she said. "We need to talk."