No. Absolutely not.
This was Eliana's doing.
That girl—her so-called daughter—had slithered back into their lives like a ghost that refused to stay buried. Before Eliana, Rafael had been fragile. Isolated. Conveniently vulnerable. A problem, yes, but a manageable one. Mirabel had seen to that personally. She'd tried everything: tampering with his brakes (too obvious, in hindsight), slipping poison into drinks, also his food at family dinners (tragically wasted on Rafael's annoying habit of not finishing his meals), hiring a thug who turned out to be more talk than talent, and bribing or threatening former caregivers who suddenly grew conscience or were just incompetent.
Each failure made Rafael sharper. More cautious. Still—he'd been reachable. Still removable.
Then Eliana ruined everything.
