Chapter 4 - The Warning Caleb Had Called Jealousy
June did not return to the estate.
Not after the hospital discharged her.
Not after Elara was allowed home under close follow-up care.
Caleb arranged for a pediatric nurse to assist temporarily and moved into the nursery guest room himself.
Meredith was barred from the house while the investigation continued.
Her attorney complained.
Caleb did not care.
What bothered him was how often June had tried to warn him without directly accusing Meredith.
He opened old messages.
Three months earlier:
June: Did someone move Elara’s bedtime bottle?
Caleb had replied:
Probably Meredith. Ask her.
Six weeks later:
June: Nursery monitor was unplugged when I came back upstairs.
His answer:
Housekeeper probably bumped it.
Then:
June: Meredith keeps entering during naps after I ask her not to. Can we set clearer boundaries?
Caleb stared at his own response.
She lost her sister. Try to be patient with her.
He had thought June was territorial.
Two women struggling over responsibility in a grieving household.
He had even mentioned it to Meredith.
Meredith laughed softly and said, “She thinks being paid makes her family.”
Caleb remembered finding that comment unpleasant.
He also remembered doing nothing.
He called June.
She did not answer.
He texted instead.
I found your messages. I should have listened.
Her reply came twenty minutes later.
Yes.
Nothing else.
It hurt more than anger would have.
That afternoon, a detective called with another development.
The security company had provided access logs.
Someone had repeatedly entered the nursery-camera administrator panel.
The account used belonged to Caleb.
He immediately denied doing it.
The detective asked whether anyone knew his password.
Caleb almost said no.
Then stopped.
Meredith had managed parts of the household during the months after Laurel’s death.
She had helped reset his phone once when he forgot the security app password.
He had dictated the new one while holding a screaming newborn.
He never changed it.
The login times matched several of the gaps June noticed.
Not all.
Enough to matter.
That evening Caleb sat beside Elara’s crib.
Her bandaged hand rested near her chest.
He thought about June asking for clearer boundaries.
He had believed grief explained Meredith’s behavior.
Maybe grief still explained part of it.
But grief did not explain using his password after midnight.
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It did not explain moving cameras.
And it did not explain why Meredith had instantly accused June before anyone asked how Elara was hurt.
