<b>Chapter </b><b>50 </b>


    “It’s nothing.”


    Through the rearview mirror, Elissa caught a glimpse of the driver’s pale, drawn face. “I don’t mind a little cold now and then,” she said gently. “But you… I can tell your heart isn’t in great shape. You really shouldn’t push yourself like this.”


    The driver looked at her in surprise. “Hey, how’d you notice?”


    Before she could answer, he let out a weak, self–deprecatingugh. “Guess it’s obvious. This condition runs in my family–passed it on to my daughter, too. Right now, all I want is to save enough for her surgery.”


    Elissa remembered the lock screen photo on his phone–a little girl with wide, sad eyes, her frailness betraying her illness. She couldn’t have been older than six.


    Moved, Elissa asked quietly, “How much more do you need?”


    He managed a hopeful smile. “Almost there. Just need another five or six grand, and the doctor can put her on the schedule.”


    Five or six thousand.


    By the time he scraped together that much, Elissa doubted the little girl could afford to wait.


    She lowered her gaze and said nothing.


    Later, she decided to wait for Frank to return so they could head back together. When they were a few blocks from Murphy Manor, she paid the fare by scanning the code and stepped out into the deepening snow.


    Fat kes fell harder and faster, swirling around her as she checked the time and pulled out her phone to call Frank. “Frank? How much longer? I’m waiting at a gazebo near the old house.”


    “Elissa…” Frank’s voice hesitated, as if distracted. “Something came up at work. Can you go back first? I’lle over as soon as I finish, okay?”


    12.14


    She wasn’t in a position to say no.


    She’d been out in the cold so long her voice had taken on a nasal rasp. “Alright. About what time?”


    “Definitely before seven–thirty. I promise.”


    “Okay. I’ll wait for you.”


    She hung up, disappointment flickering in her eyes. But she didn’t wait–she turned and walked toward the old manor alone.


    Frank wouldn’t being tonight.


    For a moment, the realization stung. How could she have been so foolish as to think she could use Frank’s scraps of guilt as a shield to muddle through with the Murphy family?


    In the old days, back when Spencer was still alive, Frank only apanied her home when business with the Murphys demanded it.


    Now, with Marcia single again, Frank could barely find time for her.


    She was just an afterthought—a leftover slice of cake at a party, something Frank only gave when he had extra.


    Leftover cake. Spare time. Pocket change.


    As she neared Murphy Manor, her phone suddenly rang.


    The brief smile that had flickered at the corners of her mouth vanished when she saw the unfamiliar number. She declined the call and sent a single text instead.


    [Let me do a good deed for once. Take your daughter to see the doctor and don’t worry.]


    “Miss Elissa?”


    Butler Murphy passed by, noticing her standing in the doorway, lost in thought. He hurried over, umbre in hand. “Out in this weather without an umbre? If you catch a cold, Mrs. Paige Murphy will have our heads.”


    212


    <b>12:14 </b>#


    Elissa managed a smile, slipping easily into the polite pleasantries expected of her. “You know my grandmother–she’d never me you over something like this. She’s too kindhearted.”


    The family dinner that night was livelier than usual.


    Both of her aunts had actuallye back with their families in tow–a


    rare asion.


    Elissa’s back was ramrod straight as she entered, her gaze sweeping the dining hall, quietly relieved when she realized no one would bother with the pretense of weing her.


    They barely acknowledged her presence, as if she were invisible.


    She didn’t care enough to spoil their mood. Instead, she headed to the kitchen, helping the staff set the table.


    She’d just picked up a wine ss when a handnded–without warning–on her backside, apanied by azy, teasing voice.


    “Hey, Elissa, long time no see.”


    Elissa jumped, nearly dropping the ss, and had to resist the urge to smash it over his head. She forced herself to look down, voice even.


    “te. You’re back.”


    “Yup. Missed me?”


    te’s eyes lingered on her, a mischievous glint in them. He tugged at the edge of her thick down jacket, clearly amused. “It’s almost seventy–five in here–why are you bundled up like you’re on an Arctic expedition?”


    “What, are you afraid of me?”