“Going somewhere?” His tone held a playful edge, but his gaze was sharp
1 turned slowly, caught in the act. Faith, you really need to shut up sometimes
“You know, don’t you?” 1 muttered, unable to keep the frustration from my voice.
ALEXANDER
The text came through just as 1 was sitting down in my study to review some contracts for the night. Four simple words that bumed through my screen. We found the bastard.
A surge of adrenaline shot through me, and without a second thought, I stood, grabbing my jacket as I read the rest of the message. We found him at the traim station about to leave town. They had the doctor–the man who’d dared to do this to my son. My mind was ablage with images of Liam lying helplessly in that hospital bed, all because of this man’s twisted loyalty to someone else. Whoever had paid him to harm Liam had no regard for a child’s life, and I was ready to ensure he’d feel every list of the pain he’d inflicted.
sement, ordered, my voice cold
The text on my phone burned into my eyes, and without hesitating, 1 dialed the number of one of my guards. “Bring him to the basement, and steady. At the basement of my office, I was certain no one would hear him scream.
By the time I drove down there myself, the doctor had already been delivered, tied to a chair, his face swollen and brised. My men had done their part in making sure he didn’t get too comfortable. As I approached, he raised his head, his eyes red–rimmed and swollen. Good. He should be scared.
I stood over him, letting the silence draw out, feeling the power shift with every second that passed.
“How long?” My voice cut through the room, sharper than any blade. “How long have you been Liam’s doctor? Three years, right?”
He didn’t answer, only started to shake, the faintest whimper slipping from his mouth. “Plea.. Please “Pathetic. Even now, he had no backbone, no courage to face the consequences of his actions.
“Age you begging?” Isneered, disgusted “Tell me, what exactly are you begging for? Or maybe I should ask what you were planning to do, running away like a cowand.”
His lips parted, but nothing came out, and could feel the rage in me rise. He hadn’t been mate when he agreed to poison my son. But now, when he was comend he couldn’t muster a word? Fine. I leaned in closer, my voice colder, more measured.
“I’ll make this simple. I have two questions for you, and I want the truth. Lie to me, and you lose a finger. I held up the knife, letting it gleam under the dim light. “And if you think silence is going to help, let me clarity–that’s as good as a lie to me. No answer equals chopped finger.”
H
He swallowed hand, a look of sheer panic spreading across his face, and his breathing grew faster. But he stayed silent, and in a split second, I brought the knife down, severing his finger with a clean predse cut. His scream echoed around the room, but I didn’t flinch.
“Now that we’re clear,” I said, wiping the blood off the blade, “we’ll start over. Why?”
He was gasping, clutching his bleeding hand as best as he could while bound to the chair, but finally, he spoke, his voice shaky, barely a whisper. “s–she she made me do it. She wanted the boy gone.”
The words hit me like a physical blow, and for a moment, I was silent, processing, she wanted Liam gone? A woman. That narrowed it down. But who? The image of Eliza’s face flitted across my mind, then Vanessa’s, and finally my mother’s. Each of them had enough contempt for Rain–and, by r any one of them might have orchestrated this.
rextension, for Liam—that
My jaw clenched as I forced myself to stay calm, to focus on the task at hand. “What did you give him?” I demanded, voice low, controlled. “And for how long?” He swallowed, visibly shading, before he forced the words out. “Mylotoxin. Small doses, to for over a year. Just enough to… to weaken him.”
I could hardly breathe as the words sank in, each word twisted like a knife in my gut. A year. A whole year of that poison coursing through Liam’s body, draining his strength, his life–all while I’d been too distracted to notice. I was too busy with my career, too busy hating Raina, too blind to see what was right in front of me.
The realization settled heavily–1 couldn’t understand this level of wickedness, not toward a child, not toward my child. Liam, barely old enough to understand the world, had been subjected to such calculated cruelty. My mind flashed to his small, fearful face during his episodes of weakness, the confusion in his eyes when he would look up at me, trying to be brave,
Lam must have been so scared, so alone. And where was 17 Consumed by my own bitterness, wolding the child who bore his mother’s ay
Then, the thought hit harder than any punch–I’d taken him from her had wrested Liam away from Rajna, thinking I was protecting him, thinking I was doing the right thing. But now, with each revelation, the weight of my negligence became crushing. How would Ratna look at me if she knew the truth? It she knew how unterly had falled to see the signs, how blinded I’d been by my own pride and anger?
This wasn’t just a failure–It was an unforgivable betrayal.
“Who?” My voice was barely more than a whisper now, edged with barely contained fury. “Who gave the order?”
The doctor’s face went pale, and for a second, I thought he would tell me. But the shook his head, his expression turning grim.
“L–I can’t. I’d rather die than watch my family dir.”
And before I could react, he bit down on his tongue with such force that blood pouted from his mouth, and he began to choke, his body convulsing violently as the lite drained from his eyes. I stared, cold and unmoving, as he slumped over, his final act a last desperate refusal to give me what I wanted. He was gone
All I had was the knowledge that a woman had been behind this–but which one? Eliza, Vanessa, ormy mother one of them wanted my son dead. My hands clenched at my sides, rage curling through me as i thought of each of them and the gases they played. Each of them had their motives, their reasons to hate Raina, and by extension, to see Llamas a problem And now, one of them had crossed a line that could ever be forgiven
1 left the basement, a cold determination filling me as I headed for the hospital. I’d wasted enough time, played into the hands of people who couldn’t be trusted
