Chapter 2 - Shadows in the ICU
The steady, sickening beep of the heart monitor was the only sound inside ICU Room 408.
I stood at the foot of the bed, my chest tight. Mary lay there, pale and motionless, her head wrapped in thick bandages. A machine was breathing for her. Seeing the vibrant, fiercest woman I had ever known reduced to a fragile shell shattered something deep inside my soul.
Lauren crept up to the side of the bed, reaching up on her tiptoes to set her worn blue Bible on Mary’s pillow. "I kept God with me, Mommy," she whispered softly. "And I brought the man from the picture."
Tears blurred my vision. I walked over and gently pressed my lips against Mary’s cool forehead, whispering a promise I should have made six years ago. "I'm back, Mary. I swear to God, I'm never leaving again."
Suddenly, the door swung open. A doctor walked in, clutching a medical chart, accompanied by two armed police officers.
"Mr. Arthur Vance?" the doctor asked, checking his clipboard. "We were told you brought the child in."
"I did. How is she? How is Mary?"
"She sustained a severe traumatic brain injury," the doctor replied grimly. "She's in a medically induced coma. But Mr. Vance, the police are here because of the circumstances surrounding her admission."
One of the officers stepped forward, his hand resting on his holster. "Are you aware, Mr. Vance, that Ms. Fitzgerald filed a restraining order and a corporate lawsuit against your firm, Vance Global, just forty-eight hours before her 'accident'?"
I blinked, stunned. "A lawsuit? On what grounds?"
"Illegal seizure of property and corporate espionage," the officer said, eyeing me suspiciously. "She claimed she possessed documents proving that Vance Global bribed city officials to condemn her building forcibly. Furthermore, eyewitnesses saw a man fitting your security team's description arguing with her on the scaffolding right before she fell."
My mind reeled. Victoria.
She wasn't just managing the development project; she was actively eliminating anyone who posed a threat to the multi-billion-dollar deal. And Mary wasn't just a random tenant standing in the way—she was holding evidence that could send my entire executive board to federal prison.
Before I could explain, my phone chimed with an encrypted email alert. It was an automated message from an unknown sender, set on a timer to deliver to my personal inbox:
May you like
“Arthur, if you are reading this, I am either dead or incapacitated. Do not trust Victoria. Do not trust your board. Lauren is not just your daughter—she is the sole heiress to the land Vance Global is trying to steal. Look inside the blue Bible.”
My heart stopped. I turned slowly and looked at the worn blue Bible sitting on Mary's pillow.
