Chapter 6 - WHAT WAS IN THE WINE
Elena stopped breathing for a moment.
“What medication?”
Claire replayed the audio.
The words did not change.
Neither did their meaning.
Alvin stood completely still.
Elena remembered dinner.
The legal papers.
The wine.
She had taken only two sips because of the pregnancy.
Diego had poured it anyway.
When she refused more, Brenna had made a joke about pregnant women becoming fragile.
Elena's hand moved to her stomach.
“I drank from a glass.”
Claire immediately called Dr. Hart.
Blood samples taken when Elena arrived had been preserved.
The hospital toxicology department performed additional testing.
Hours passed.
At 2:37 a.m., Dr. Hart returned.
“There was a sedating compound in your blood.”
Elena stared at her.
“How much?”
“Not a large amount.”
“But enough that you may have felt dizzy, slow, or unusually tired.”
Elena remembered stumbling when Diego pulled her toward the patio.
She had blamed fear.
Then she remembered something else.
“My foot slipping.”
Dr. Hart nodded.
“The cold was still the primary danger.”
“But the medication could have impaired your balance and ability to respond.”
Alvin walked away from the bed.
His hands were shaking.
Claire remained focused.
“Can you determine when she took it?”
“Not precisely.”
“Could it have been in food or drink?”
“Yes.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Dinner had been prepared by retreat staff.
But the wine had been poured by Diego.
And Brenna had watched.
Claire requested the original wine bottle be seized.
It was gone.
The kitchen staff said Brenna had instructed them to clear every bottle after dinner.
One housekeeper remembered something else.
Brenna had personally carried Elena's half-finished glass into the kitchen.
The glass had disappeared too.
By morning, detectives obtained authorization to search Diego's Denver residence and office.
They found no medication.
But in Brenna's guest suite at the mountain retreat, they found a small silver pill container.
It was empty.
The laboratory would need time to test residue.
Diego reacted immediately.
Through his attorney, he issued a statement claiming Elena's family was manufacturing allegations to destroy him.
He said the outdoor shower incident had been a marital argument that turned into an accident.
He said Elena had become emotionally unstable during pregnancy.
He said Alvin Sterling had always hated him.
Then he made his first major move.
He filed an emergency petition asking the court to restrict Alvin's access to Elena's unborn child.
Elena read the filing twice.
“He's trying to make Dad look dangerous?”
Claire nodded.
“He is building a narrative.”
“What narrative?”
“That your father is controlling you.”
“That your pregnancy has made you unstable.”
“And that Diego is the reasonable husband caught between the two of you.”
Elena laughed in disbelief.
“He put me under freezing water.”
“Yes.”
“And there is video.”
“Yes.”
“Then how can he possibly think this works?”
Claire's expression was grim.
“Because people do not need to win every argument.”
“Sometimes they only need to create enough confusion that the truth takes longer to prove.”
Elena looked at the court documents.
Then she noticed an attachment.
A statement from a physician.
Dr. Samuel Keller.
The letter claimed Elena had previously demonstrated paranoia, emotional volatility, and irrational suspicion toward her husband.
Elena had never met Dr. Keller.
May you like
Yet his report contained details from private conversations she had only ever had with one person.
Brenna.
