Chapter 2 - The White Corridor
The scent of antiseptic and the blinding glare of fluorescent lights greeted my return to consciousness. My body felt detached, numb from the chest down, but the phantom echo of the stairs still haunted my muscles.
"My baby..." I croaked, my throat raw.
"He's here, Elena. He's fighting," a soft voice responded.
I turned my head slowly to see my mother-in-law, Eleanor Hale, sitting by my bedside. The woman who, just yesterday, had told me to "stop making a scene" when I complained about Victor’s aggression. Now, her immaculate Chanel suit was wrinkled, and her eyes were rimmed with red.
"You," I whispered, trying to pull away, but the IV lines held me back.
"Elena, please," she said, reaching out a trembling hand, though she didn't dare touch me. "I didn't know. I swear to you, I didn't know he was capable of... of this. The board showed me the footage. The entire city knows. The Hale stock is plummeting, the police have denied him bail..."
"Where is my son?" I demanded, ignoring her tears.
"In the NICU," she murmured. "He was born via emergency C-section. He's small, Elena. The trauma from the fall... the doctors are doing everything they can."
A suffocating weight settled on my chest. Victor hadn't just tried to kill my reputation; he had nearly stolen the life of my innocent child.
Before Eleanor could say another word, the door to the private room swung open. Arthur Vance walked in, his expression grim, followed by two detectives.
"Eleanor, leave us," Arthur commanded with an authority that left no room for argument. Eleanor bowed her head and slipped out of the room, looking older than her years.
Arthur walked to my bedside and took my hand. "Elena, you were brilliant. The footage from your watch was enough to secure a domestic violence and attempted murder charge. But we have a massive problem."
I pulled off the oxygen mask. "The USB drive."
"Yes," Arthur sighed. "The police searched the mansion. They found the cameras you hid, they found the audio logs, but Victor’s legal team is already moving. They are claiming the live feed was a deepfake, manufactured by your family to ruin him before the vote. Without the hard evidence of the financial fraud—the actual documents showing the stolen billions—his lawyers might get the attempted murder charges reduced or dismissed on account of 'provocation' and 'mental instability.'"
I closed my eyes. Even from a jail cell, Victor’s venomous reach was trying to choke me. He had spent three years building a fortress of lies, and he wasn't going to let it crumble in one night.
"He thinks I hid the drive in the house," I whispered, opening my eyes. A cold, calculating fire ignited inside me. "But I didn't. I knew he would search the house."
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Arthur leaned in. "Where is it, Elena?"
"It’s in the one place Victor would never look," I said, a dangerous smile touching my lips. "Because it’s the one place he thinks he completely owns."
