The Carter estate was a masterpiece of classic architecture, but to Alicia, it felt more like a museum than a home. As she walked up the grand staircase, her hand was tucked into the crook of Arthur's arm. She felt him tense as they approached the dining hall.
"Are you okay?" she whispered, sensing his unease.
Arthur paused, looking at the large oak doors. "I haven't had a meal in this room without feeling like I was being watched. But with you here... the shadows feel smaller."
Dinner was surprisingly warm. Eleanor and Henry Carter treated Alicia not as an employee, but as a guest of honor. They talked about Léo, about architecture, and for a moment, Alicia forgot she was sitting in a room that cost more than her entire neighborhood.
However, as the evening wound down, Eleanor leaned over and touched Alicia's hand. "Arthur told us what you did at the office today. How you stood up to Melissa. You have a strength in you, Alicia. It reminds me of Arthur when he was younger."
Arthur's expression darkened slightly. He set his wine glass down with a precise click. "I wasn't strong, Mother. I was just a survivor."
He looked at Alicia, his gray eyes searching hers. "You've seen the way I act, Alicia. The way I keep people at a distance. You deserve to know why."
He slowly unbuttoned his cufflink and rolled up his sleeve. There, near his wrist, was a faint but jagged scar. "When I was nineteen, I was kidnapped. They didn't want a ransom; they wanted something more valuable. I was held in a basement for three weeks. That's when I lost my kidney."
The room went silent. Alicia felt the air leave her lungs. She thought of Léo, fighting for his life, and then looked at Arthur, who had been stripped of his own health by the cruelty of others.
"They took a part of me," Arthur said, his voice a ghost of a whisper. "And for years, I felt like a broken machine. I stopped trusting. I stopped feeling. Until I saw you kneeling in the rain to help that dog. I realized that some things are worth the risk of being broken again."
Alicia didn't think. She reached across the table and covered his hand with hers. "You're not a machine, Arthur. You're the strongest foundation I've ever seen. And foundations are built to carry weight."
In the corner of the room, behind a heavy velvet curtain, a phone light flickered. Melissa had managed to bribe a servant to listen in. She had heard everything. A cruel smile spread across her face. A weakness, she thought. I finally found his weakness.