Chapter 4 - The Poisoned Well
The ride back to the Sterling estate was a blur of roaring engines and flashing police lights. Arthur drove his dark sports car himself, his hands gripping the leather steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. Elena sat in the passenger seat, holding Doña Victoria’s hand in the back via the middle seat mirror, keeping the older woman calm as the car tore through the rainy night streets.
When they screeched to a halt in front of the mansion, the front doors were standing wide open. Rain was blowing into the grand foyer, soaking the pristine marble floor where Elena had walked just hours earlier.
Two security guards were lying unconscious near the grand staircase.
"Stay in the car with my mother!" Arthur ordered, pulling a small silver handgun from the glove compartment.
"Arthur, wait!" Elena shouted, grabbing his arm. "Don't go in alone. If they wanted to steal something, they're already gone. If they're still inside, it's an ambush!"
Arthur looked at her hand on his arm, then into her eyes. The raw panic in his gray eyes slowly began to give way to reason. "My father's private vault... it holds the original handwritten codicil to his will. The one that proves my mother's fortune cannot be managed by anyone outside the bloodline, even if she is incapacitated."
"Then that's what they were after," Elena said softly. "They don't want to kill you, Arthur. They want to destroy the document before the custody hearing."
A sudden sound shattered the silence—a metallic crash coming from the second-floor study, followed by the smell of burning paper drifting down the stairs.
Without waiting for Arthur, Elena unbuckled her seatbelt and sprinted out of the car into the pouring rain, heading for the side entrance of the estate.
"Elena! Damn it, come back!" Arthur roared, pursuing her into the dark mansion.
Elena knew the layout of the house better than the security team realized—she had spent the last two days studying the architectural blueprints in Doña Victoria's room to ensure she knew every emergency exit. She slipped through the servants' passageway, scrambling up the narrow wooden stairs that led directly behind the study's wall.
She reached the secret door behind the bookshelf in the study and peeked through the decorative gap.
Inside the study, a tall man dressed in black tactical gear was kneeling beside a heavy iron safe that had been cut open with a blowtorch. Flames were roaring inside a metal trash can beside him, consuming stacks of old leather-bound journals and legal files.
Standing beside the masked man, watching the fire with a cold, triumphant smile, was a man Elena recognized immediately.
It was Dr. Harrison—Doña Victoria's personal physician, the man who had been prescribing the Nervosa-7.
"Make sure every page of the 2018 codicil is ash," Harrison said, checking his gold wristwatch. "Beatrice wants this wrapped up before Arthur gets back from the gala."
"Almost done, Doc," the intruder grunted, tossing another thick blue file into the flames.
Elena didn't think. She knew that if those papers burned, Doña Victoria would be stripped of her rights, Arthur would lose control of the company, and she and her brother would be eliminated as inconvenient witnesses.
She reached for the emergency fire extinguisher mounted inside the servant passageway. She kicked open the secret bookshelf door with all her strength, slamming the heavy wood straight into the back of the intruder.
The man stumbled forward into the burning trash can, yelling in surprise as the flames singed his arm.
"What the—?!" Harrison shrieked, backing away.
Elena pulled the safety pin on the extinguisher and aimed the nozzle directly at the flames, releasing a thick, white cloud of chemical retardant. The fire died instantly in a hiss of white smoke, coating the room and the remaining documents in cold foam.
"You miserable bitch!" the intruder snarled, pulling a tactical knife from his belt and lunging at Elena.
Elena threw the heavy metal fire extinguisher at his knees. The man stumbled, but his momentum carried him forward. He grabbed Elena by her velvet dress, slamming her violently against the desk. Her head struck the sharp mahogany corner, and a sudden flash of white hot pain exploded behind her eyes.
Warm blood began trickling down her temple, blurring her vision.
The man raised the knife, his face twisted in rage. "Say goodnight, nurse."
BANG.
A deafening gunshot echoed through the study.
The intruder's eyes went wide. He dropped the knife, collapsed onto his knees, and fell forward onto the carpet, clutching a shattered shoulder.
Standing in the doorway, his gun still smoking, was Arthur. His face was no longer that of a suave businessman; he looked like a demonic force of nature. His eyes were wild, bloodshot, and fixed entirely on the man who had just touched Elena.
"Arthur..." Elena gasped, her vision swimming as she tried to stay conscious.
Dr. Harrison dropped to his knees, throwing his hands in the air. "Arthur! Please! I was forced into this! Beatrice threatened my medical license—"
Arthur didn't even look at the doctor. He strode across the room, ignoring the groaning men on the floor, and swept Elena up into his arms. He lifted her off the desk as if she weighed nothing, holding her close against his chest.
"I told you to stay in the car," Arthur choked out, his voice raw with an emotion he could no longer hide. He pressed his forehead against hers, ignoring the blood smearing onto his skin. "You fool... you reckless, incredible fool."
"The... the codicil..." Elena whispered, pointing a trembling, foam-covered hand toward the blackened trash can. "I saved... the bottom half..."
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Arthur looked at the charred paper sticking out of the chemical foam, then back down at the woman bleeding in his arms.
"Damn the papers," Arthur rasped, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. "You're bleeding."
