Chapter 10 - Maren’s Choice
Maren covered the distance in seconds.
She grabbed Elodie around the waist and pulled her backward.
Celestine reached after them.
Deputy Morris intercepted her.
“No!”
Celestine fought wildly.
“Elodie!”
But Elodie wasn’t reaching for Celestine.
She buried her face in Maren’s neck.
“Mommy!”
Maren dropped to her knees on the grass and wrapped both arms around her daughter.
“I’ve got you.”
Elodie shook violently.
“I’ve got you, baby.”
“Don’t let her take me.”
That sentence nearly destroyed Maren.
“She won’t.”
Behind them, Celestine screamed.
“That’s my child!”
Maren turned.
For the first time, she felt no fear.
“No.”
Her voice was quiet.
“She never was.”
Deputy Morris handcuffed Celestine.
Victor was already restrained farther up the path.
The wedding guests watched from a distance.
Nobody whispered now.
Nobody looked at Maren as though she were unstable.
Nobody questioned whether Celestine was merely a devoted aunt trying to protect a child.
They had seen her.
Grant approached slowly.
He looked twenty years older than he had that morning.
“Elodie…”
Maren tightened her hold.
Grant stopped.
“I’m not asking to take her.”
He swallowed.
“I just need to say I’m sorry.”
Maren looked at him.
“You’ll have to say it more than once.”
“I know.”
“And not just to me.”
His eyes moved to Elodie.
“I know.”
Paramedics checked Elodie.
She had bruising around one upper arm but no serious physical injuries.
Maren refused to let go of her hand.
Then an investigator approached.
“We need your statement.”
Maren looked at her terrified daughter.
“Later.”
The investigator nodded immediately.
“Later.”
That mattered.
For a year and a half, officials had constantly told Maren what she had to prove.
Where she had to stand.
When she could hug her daughter.
How long she could stay.
Now someone finally looked at Elodie’s needs first.
The wedding ended without a ceremony.
The flowers remained.
The champagne warmed in untouched glasses.
A white cake stood beneath the tent with CELESTINE & VICTOR written across the top.
By sunset, both the bride and groom were in separate interview rooms.
Maren sat in the back of an ambulance with Elodie asleep against her chest.
Claire sat beside them.
“You realize what happened today changes everything.”
Maren stroked Elodie’s hair.
“I don’t care about anything except taking her home.”
“You are.”
The words hit Maren unexpectedly.
Home.
Not a supervised room.
Not Mercer House.
Home.
Maren cried silently.
Elodie stirred.
“Mommy?”
“I’m here.”
“Tomorrow too?”
Maren closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Elodie’s tiny hand grabbed her dress.
“And after tomorrow?”
Maren kissed her forehead.
“Every day I’m allowed to be on this earth.”
Claire looked away, wiping her own eyes.
Then her phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
And slowly turned toward Maren.
“What?”
Claire covered the phone.
“They searched Victor’s office.”
Maren’s chest tightened.
“They found records.”
“What kind?”
“Payments to the mechanic who serviced your car.”
Silence.
Maren looked down at Elodie.
Adrian had been sabotaged.
Then Maren.
Not coincidence.
A sequence.
And the people responsible hadn’t simply stolen eighteen months from her.
May you like
They had tried to make sure she never lived long enough to get those months back.
👉 Elodie was finally safe in Maren’s arms, but the records in Victor’s office were about to prove that Maren’s crash had been the second act of the same plan that killed Adrian.
