Chapter 5 - The Poisoned Tea
As sirens wailed in the distance, Arthur sat on the floor of the shattered altar, holding Eleanor tightly.
Paramedics rushed in with a stretcher, but Eleanor refused to let go of Arthur’s hand.
Her voice was barely a whisper as she finally told him the truth.
There had never been a runaway letter.
Three days ago, Vanessa had visited the house while Arthur was at work.
She had brought Eleanor a cup of artisanal tea, claiming it was a special blend for her recent migraines.
Eleanor had taken three sips before the room began to spin.
The last thing she remembered was collapsing on the kitchen floor, looking up into Vanessa’s cold, triumphant eyes.
"You have everything I deserve, Ellie," Vanessa had whispered, standing over her paralyzed body.
"The money. The status. The husband. It’s time to pass the crown."
Vanessa had drafted the fake letter, drugged Eleanor into a coma, and smuggled her into the back of a catering van.
For three days, Eleanor had been kept bound and gagged in an abandoned storage unit.
She was kept barely alive with small amounts of water, until today.
Vanessa’s plan was monstrously poetic.
She had bribed the stage contractors to build a hollow compartment inside the floral wall.
Before the wedding, she had Eleanor moved and sealed inside the altar.
Vanessa wanted to say her vows standing literally over the grave of her best friend.
She knew Eleanor would suffocate within hours, and the wall would be dismantled and thrown into an incinerator the next morning by Vanessa's paid crew.
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It was the perfect murder.
But Vanessa hadn't accounted for Lily.
