Chapter 19 Tomorrow Decides
Her hands were shaking. She pressed them against her thighs. Her face was very calm. She had practiced calm. She had learned it in seven years of marriage to a man who lied to her every day. She knew how to wear a mask.
But underneath the mask, she was burning.
She was not afraid. She was angry. So angry she could taste it.
"You’ve already decided," she said. Her voice was quiet. "You’ve already decided I’m guilty. The test is just a formality."
No one denied it.
Eleanor crossed her arms. "The test will confirm what we already know."
"And if it doesn’t?" Veyra looked at her. "If the test proves that I made that medication myself? That I developed it? That I saved her life with something I created with my own hands?"
Eleanor’s smile flickered. "It won’t."
"But if it does."
The room was silent.
Veyra looked at Dorian. He was still watching her and still unreadable.
"You said you would take responsibility," she said to him. "You said if anything went wrong, you would take the blame. But what about if things go right? What about if I’m telling the truth? What do I get then?"
Dorian’s jaw tightened. "What do you want?"
"I want to be believed." Her voice cracked. She hated that it cracked. "I want to be treated like a person and not like a criminal or like a liar and not like someone who has to prove her worth every single second of every single day."
The room was very quiet.
Then the old woman spoke.
"If she’s lying," the old woman said, her voice weak but clear, "you divorce her. That’s my condition."
Veyra’s breath caught.
Dorian looked at his grandmother. "Grandmother—"
"If she’s lying, she’s out. No arguments and no appeals. She signs the papers and she’s gone." The old woman’s eyes found Veyra’s. "I won’t have a fraud in this family. I won’t have someone who uses my grandson and fakes a medical emergency to get ahead."
Veyra said nothing because there was nothing to say.
"And if she’s telling the truth?" Dorian asked.
The old woman was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "Then she’s your wife and no one can take that from her. No one can question her place in this family."
Celeste stepped forward. "That’s generous."
"It’s fair." The old woman’s voice was firm. "She saved my life. If she did it honestly, she deserves to be here. If she didn’t, she deserves to leave."
Veyra looked at Dorian. "Do you agree to that?"
He held her gaze for a long moment. "Yes."
"Then I agree too." She turned to face the room. "Tomorrow, we’ll know the truth and you will apologize to me." She added pointing at Celeste and Eleanor.