Chapter Thirty-Six #2
“Of course,” said Scarlett. “It’d be good for you to rest up before we have to leave for Parliament.”
“Come get me if you need me,” said Cass.
Scarlett stepped into Elestine’s empty study and dialed the police station.
“Apologies, Lady Heroux,” the officer on the phone replied after listening to her request. “As you know, this is an unprecedented day in Soleil, and there are no spare officers to supervise a call.”
Scarlett closed her eyes, trying to dispel her frustration so she could speak calmly.
“Of course. Apologies for asking, but can you at least tell him about the arrests? And tell him I’m fine.
” Brayden felt so far away. Her thoughts ran in circles when she tried to imagine what he could be thinking or feeling.
“Yes, Lady Heroux,” said the officer before ending the call.
By the afternoon, they’d finished all of Elestine and Scarlett’s planned comms and had prepared remarks for the press conference. Now all that was left to do was wait to hear from the courts on warrants for arrest.
“All right,” said Elestine. “Soleil Times, check. The Observer, check. The Daily Soleil, check. The Financier, check. The Journal, check. We’ve got all the majors covered.
” It was the third time she’d confirmed this aloud, but Scarlett didn’t mind.
Sleep deprivation meant her brain wasn’t fully functional.
“The warrants have been issued by the court,” called out Lord Garfield. He hurried to the whiteboard and held his phone to one ear as he wrote out a list of names.
Scarlett’s heart thudded. She knew half the names, but not all of them. She stared as he misspelled her stepmother’s name—“Lady Leilani Heroux”—just after “Lady Moira Ashworth.”
The moment she’d been waiting for since Beni woke her from her coma was finally here.
Under the exhaustion, Scarlett’s soul was suddenly lighter, as if the burden of seeking revenge had left her body.
She wasn’t triumphant—yet. There was still so much to do.
But now she wasn’t alone. Now everyone would know the biggest truths.
She was hit with a wave of deep relief—so deep her body relaxed into her chair.
It was almost tempting to put her head on the table and sleep where she sat, so soothing was this newfound peace.
“Who is Leonard Orsino?” asked Lord Navarre, who was sitting next to her at the table.
“Third from the top in the bureau, I believe,” said Edward. “That’s his boss, Aaron Fox.”
“Please tell me Bates isn’t on the list,” murmured Lord Navarre. Bates was the head of the bureau. “I don’t want to be responsible for repairing the wreckage at the bureau after this.”
Scarlett was in a dreamlike state as she watched the news in the living room alongside her colleagues while they waited for the arrests to take place. She glanced at a security guard who came in and went straight to Elestine, whispering something in her ear.
A frown creased Elestine’s forehead, and the prime minister’s gaze locked with Scarlett’s. Scarlett’s stomach plummeted.
What now?
Elestine gestured toward the hallway, and Scarlett followed her.
“Laylani’s here,” she said once they were alone.
“What?” Scarlett’s hand flew to her chest. How had she known where to find Scarlett? Or was she here for Beni? Scarlett had expected to see Laylani next in court, weeks from now, not today.
“The arrests have started. She knows she’s going down, and she probably came here to…
I don’t know, humiliate me? My security team is holding her out back.
The police are on their way, but I wanted to offer you the chance to speak to her before they arrive.
You might not have another opportunity to approach her off the record, and you deserve that—if you want it. ”
The demon herself was here. A mess of pain and other uncomfortable emotions Scarlett couldn’t even name passed through her. Had she come to humiliate Elestine? An itch at the back of her mind told her why. But Scarlett didn’t want to even think it.
“She didn’t ask to see me, did she?”
“No. She has no idea you’re here.”
Scarlett considered Elestine’s offer and found she was oddly tempted. Better to confront your demons whenever possible.
“All right. Take me to her.”
“One thing before I do. She’ll likely be spilling secrets to anyone who’ll listen from here on out. If she says anything about me that particularly upsets you, promise you’ll give me the opportunity to discuss it with you.”
“I know better than to take what she says at face value. She’s one of the biggest liars I’ve ever met,” said Scarlett.
“But Elestine isn’t a liar,” said Nori. “Listen to what she’s telling you and prepare yourself.”
“Even liars tell the truth sometimes,” said Elestine, looking away. “We’d better get you out there. You won’t have long.”
Scarlett’s chest was tight as she walked into the back garden. Her proud, elegant stepmother was seated on a bench next to the high wisteria-covered wall that separated the garden from the small canal at the rear of the house. Laylani was already handcuffed, and two guards hovered close by.
The sight of her in cuffs lightened Scarlett’s mood a touch.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding.” Her words were coated in disdain. “I went looking for you first.”
“Here I am,” said Scarlett, spreading her hands wide before letting them drop back to her sides.
“You must feel pretty proud of yourself.”
She seated herself across from Laylani. “Why’d you do it? My mother, my father, me. Why’d you want us all dead?”
Laylani stared at her for a long moment. “How’d you know about…?” Then she let out an angry sigh, realizing she’d given something away.
How’d you know about Sabina? That was what she’d been about to say. The evidence already proved she’d acted against Scarlett and Jules.
It surprised Scarlett how much the admission satisfied her. The journal, the gut feeling—none of it had been absolute confirmation until now. Now that she knew the truth for sure and Laylani’s arrest was imminent, a strange sense of calm came over her.
“That’s right. You’ve won,” said Nori. “She’ll lose everything now.”
“Would you believe I did it for love?” Laylani’s eyes were dull, absent of the usual haughty confidence, and her shoulders were slumped. This version of her was new to Scarlett.
“For love? That doesn’t make sense.”
She shrugged half-heartedly. “Imagine you met Brayden today but he’d already married someone else. What would you do?”
Scarlett narrowed her eyes. Was Laylani trying to say Jules was her Brayden?
She couldn’t believe it. She’d never seen anything that looked like her love for Brayden between her dad and Laylani.
“We’d never be in that situation.” At least according to James, a marriage couldn’t have come between them, but she wasn’t about to explain Clair de Lune’s North Star law to Laylani.
Laylani shook her head. “But you can imagine, can’t you? If he’d gotten married while you were with Alastair, and then you woke up one day and realized he should’ve been with you, what would you have done?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I loved him, and my sister helped me get him because she believed it was better for Soleil. Back then she hoped Jules might be swayed if Sabina wasn’t in his ear whispering about her ridiculous, magic-worshipping beliefs.
Your mother was his greatest handicap, Scarlett.
I got rid of her for him, and he became prime minister because of me. ”
Scarlett closed off the part of her that wanted to rage at this woman. “You killed my mum because she stood between you and my dad, but what about Dad? Why’d you let him die?”
Laylani brought her cuffed hands to her face, brushing a tear off her cheek.
“I loved him more than anything, and all I wanted was for him to love me back. I thought he did for a time, but then he made it clear he didn’t want a real marriage anymore.
Why do you think I came here today, Scarlett?
” She lifted her joined hands together once more, gesturing to the house.
Scarlett flashed back to Elestine’s comment about humiliation, and then to the dinner at the Twig and Vine when Laylani alluded to an affair. What she’d guessed that night but hadn’t wanted to acknowledge came rearing into her consciousness again.
“My dad loved Elestine.”
“Your dad definitely fucked Elestine,” said Laylani, her nostrils flaring. “They were at it for over a year. Can you hear that, Edward?” she yelled at the back of the house.
The guards moved toward her, and she put her hand up.
“Back the fuck up. I’ll be quiet,” she said in a more level tone.
The two guards did not back up, but they didn’t come closer.
“What the fuck, Dad?” muttered Scarlett, too quiet for Laylani to hear. She turned her back on her stepmother.
Elestine and Jules had gotten together while she’d been dating Elestine’s son.
All the times her dad had pushed her toward Alastair—had Elestine been telling him to do it?
That was fucking weird if so. It was weird either way.
She closed her eyes, massaging her temples as she tried to grapple with what it all meant.
Then an image of her father between Elestine’s legs appeared in her mind, making her nauseous.
She made a sound of disgust. Pushing the image out, she replaced her disgust with her old friend, anger.
Anger she wouldn’t let Laylani transpose onto Elestine. Because while what Elestine had done was wrong—and gross to imagine—it was nothing compared to Laylani’s crimes. The delusional bitch had killed both her parents.
Scarlett turned around to face Laylani, scowling at her.
“You don’t have anything to say?” asked Laylani, her voice quiet but laced with poison.
“Can’t your little rule-follower heart understand?
I did everything for Jules, and he shit all over me.
I gave him a child. A boy. He married me for it, but he still made you his heir.
You’ll probably end up abdicating and moving to Clair de Lune.
Beaufort should’ve been his heir all along. ” Her head drooped. “What a waste.”
Scarlett stared at her stepmother, stunned by the venom she spewed. Had she baby-trapped Jules? Either way, Beni didn’t deserve this any more than Scarlett. She’d make sure he was never Laylani’s pawn again.
“What is there to say? Nothing comes to mind except that I look forward to watching your trial.”
Laylani continued as if Scarlett hadn’t said anything.
“You know, if Jules had lived, maybe Elestine would have left Edward, you might have married Alastair, and then you could have double-dated with your parents.” She stood and started to shriek.
“If she weren’t so old, she could have had his baby, and then that baby would be related to you and Alastair—”
The guards moved toward her, but as they did, police officers flooded the garden.
Satisfaction coursed through Scarlett as an officer recuffed Laylani so her hands were behind her back.
“Let’s go, Lady Heroux. Lots of arrests today.”
“She came in through the back,” said one of Elestine’s guards, pointing to the gate that opened up to a small side canal. He was probably assuming—correctly, Scarlett thought—Elestine wouldn’t want Laylani paraded through the house.
“Our boat’s in the front. It’ll be faster to walk her out that way,” huffed the officer.
Laylani’s eyes were wild as she was hauled through the garden and into the house.
“You think you’re better than me? All of you are so high and mighty,” she shouted as they led her through the dining room, where all the Cerulean lords sat in stunned silence.
“But Elestine’s as morally bankrupt as— Oh, Edward, lovely to see you!
Did you know about El and Jules? I always wondered if you were a cuck or if the relationship was actually open.
” She cackled at Edward’s stormy expression.
Everyone in the dining room gaped as Scarlett followed Laylani and the officers out onto the dock. Her family’s pain was out in the open for all to see. It was worth it to watch evil brought to her knees.
“One last thing, Laylani,” called Scarlett as her stepmother was led to the police speedboat. “Elestine was a better mother to me than you ever were. And she’ll continue to be, in spite of what you just pulled.”
“Like I care,” called Laylani.
“Well, maybe you care more about Beni. He’s upstairs—did you know that? I knew he’d be safe here. With Elestine Spencer. Safer than he’d ever be with you. And we’re going to live a good life without you.”
Laylani looked over her shoulder, her expression twisted in pure hatred. The cop didn’t miss a beat, though, hauling her into the boat before she could say another word.
Scarlett watched the police boat drive off into the distance before heading back inside.
In the dining room, Lord Spencer stood stone-faced next to his wife.
He bellowed across the room, “No one leaves the premises without signing an NDA. I’ll ruin anyone who doesn’t comply.
That woman is a liar, and anyone who corroborates her story will have me to answer to.
” He stomped off without another word. Elestine hurried to follow him.
Lord Navarre gave her a sympathetic grimace before returning to hushed conversation with Lord Mayweather. Otis Garfield was the first to approach Scarlett, a kindly look of concern on his wrinkled face.
“What a nasty display,” he said as he patted Scarlett on the back. “Don’t worry, Scarlett. No one will listen to that snake of a woman.” He opened his arms to her, and Scarlett leaned into the hug, taking what comfort from it she could.
“It’s all right, Otis. Whether they believe her or not, she’s gone. That’s all that matters to me right now.”