Chapter 2 - The Snake in the Suit
The sun had barely cleared the horizon when the knock rattled against the heavy mahogany bedroom door.
I had spent the entire night reading medical charts, studying corporate organizational trees Ethan had forced me to memorize, and faking the routine of a grief-stricken, neglected bride. When the door swung open, Jason Thornton stepped in uninvited, a silk robe draped loosely over his shoulders and a sickeningly sweet smile plastered across his face.
"Morning, little sister-in-law," Jason drawled, strolling into the room as if he owned the entire eastern seaboard. His eyes swept over the bed, lingering for a fraction of a second on Ethan’s motionless form. "Rough first night? I told Uncle it was cruel giving you a vegetable for a wedding present."
I kept my hands clasped tightly in my lap to hide their trembling. "I’m adjusting, Jason. What do you want?"
"Straight to the point. I like it." He leaned over the foot of the bed, resting his weight on his palms, staring down at Ethan with undisguised contempt. "Just checking on our golden goose. The board meeting is in three days. Once the emergency trusteeship passes to me permanently, this old boy here is getting shipped off to a private facility in Switzerland. Out of sight, out of mind."
My stomach churned, but I forced my voice to remain deadpan. "And if he wakes up?"
Jason let out a barking laugh that made my skin crawl. "Wake up? Sweetheart, medical science has a better chance of inventing time travel. The only thing waking up in this room is your bank account once I pay off your father’s little gambling debts—provided you play nice with me."
He straightened up, walking slowly around the bed until he stood dangerously close to me. He reached out a hand, his manicured fingers brushing a lock of hair behind my ear.
"You're wasted on a corpse, Lily. We could be very good friends, you and I."
Before I could recoil, a sudden, metallic clink echoed from the nightstand.
We both froze.
Jason whipped his head around. A heavy silver pen—one Ethan always kept in his breast pocket—had rolled off the edge of the table and hit the hardwood floor.
"Did... did you hear that?" Jason whispered, his casual demeanor evaporating in an instant.
I swallowed hard, stepping smoothly between Jason and the bed to block his view. "It was just the wind hitting the window latch, Jason. This old house is drafty."
Jason narrowed his eyes, staring past my shoulder at the still, unmoving form of Ethan on the bed. For a second, the color drained from his face. He looked ready to reach out and rip the blankets back, but the sharp chime of his phone interrupted him.
He pulled the device from his pocket, glanced at the screen, and cursed under his breath. "Damn it. Vivian is calling. Probably wants to review the asset freeze again."
He gave me one last lingering, predatory look. "Enjoy your cage, Lily. You'll be begging for my attention by the end of the week."
As the door clicked shut behind him, the tension in the room snapped. I let out a long, ragged breath and turned back toward the bed.
Ethan’s eyes were open wide, burning with a rage so intense it felt physical.
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"Touché," I muttered, pressing a hand to my chest. "He almost caught us."
"He wouldn't have just caught us," Ethan whispered, his voice dangerously low. "He would have injected me with enough potassium chloride to make this coma permanent. Jason doesn't want control of the empire, Lily. He wants it liquidated. And we have less than seventy-two hours to stop him."
