CHAPTER 7
Time froze inside the bedroom as Dr. Vance stared at Ethan, his hands shaking so violently that the glass vials on his silver tray rattled against each other like frantic teeth.
"You... you're awake," Dr. Vance choked out, his face draining of all color until he looked like a ghost standing under the doorway light.
Before the doctor could scream or run back into the hallway, Ethan moved with terrifying, predatory speed.
He launched himself across the room, slamming Dr. Vance back against the wooden doorframe and clamping a massive hand tightly over the physician's mouth. The medical tray crashed to the floor, spilling syringes and shattered glass across the carpet.
"Make a single sound, Richard, and I will snap your neck right here," Ethan growled in a dark, lethal tone that left no doubt he meant every word.
Dr. Vance nodded frantically, his eyes wide with pure, unadulterated terror as Ethan slowly lowered his hand from his mouth.
I rushed over, slamming the heavy mahogany door shut and clicking the deadbolt into place before picking up a heavy brass floor lamp to use as a weapon if needed.
"Ethan... please... don't kill me!" Dr. Vance sobbed quietly, dropping to his knees with his hands raised in surrender. "I was forced into this! Vivian threatened to revoke my medical license and ruin my family if I didn't cooperate!"
Ethan stood over the trembling physician like an executioner, his jaw clenched tightly as he looked down at the man who had kept him poisoned for months.
"Where is the dose you prepared for tonight?" Ethan demanded coldly.
Dr. Vance pointed a shaking finger toward a small plastic case lying among the debris on the rug.
"It’s... it’s a lethal cardiac arrest agent," Dr. Vance confessed, tears streaming down his pale cheeks. "Jason ordered me to administer it tonight instead of waiting for Friday gala. He said he couldn't trust the girl any longer."
A cold shudder ran down my spine as I looked at the clear liquid inside that tiny vial. They weren't even going to wait for the board meeting; they were planning to murder Ethan tonight while I slept right beside him.
"Give me your phone," Ethan ordered sharply.
Dr. Vance pulled a black smartphone from his lab coat pocket, handing it over with trembling fingers.
Ethan scrolled through the messages quickly, his eyes narrowing as he read through text transcripts between Dr. Vance and Jason.
"Jason is waiting downstairs in the study for your confirmation text, isn't he?" Ethan asked, looking down at the doctor.
Dr. Vance nodded weakly. "He said he wouldn't leave for his Manhattan apartment until I texted him that the dose was successfully administered."
Ethan looked at me, a brilliant, dangerous spark of strategy igniting in his hazel eyes.
"Text him," Ethan commanded, handing the phone back to the doctor. "Tell him the injection has been given, and that Ethan’s vitals are fading rapidly. Tell him to come upstairs alone to verify before calling the morgue."
Dr. Vance gasped, looking at Ethan in sheer disbelief. "He’ll know if I’m lying!"
"He won't, because you are going to type it with my gun pointed directly at your head," Ethan said, pulling the silver pistol from his waistband and resting the cold barrel against the doctor's forehead.
Dr. Vance swallowed hard, his shaking thumbs flying across the touchscreen as he composed the message and hit send.
Ten agonizing seconds passed in absolute silence inside the dark bedroom.
Then, a quiet chime echoed from the phone.
“On my way up. Keep the girl out of the room.”
"Get into the closet, Richard," Ethan commanded, pointing the weapon toward the suit racks. "If you make a noise while he is in this room, you won't survive to see trial."
Dr. Vance scrambled into the walk-in closet without a second thought, pulling the hidden panel shut behind him.
Ethan turned to me, his posture shifting back into the calm, calculated commander.
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"Get on the bed, Emma," Ethan instructed softly, stepping toward the shadow behind the heavy velvet curtains. "Play the crying, panicked bride one last time."
I nodded, kicking off my shoes and throwing myself onto the side of the mattress. I pulled the sheets around my waist, burying my face into my hands, forcing real tears of terror to flood my eyes as heavy footsteps approached down the corridor outside.
