Chapter 4 - THE MASK SLIPSFor a second, Julian stood completely paralyzed, his mouth slightly open, staring at the gleaming steel handcuffs dangling from the trooper's hand. The brilliant, untouchable surgeon—the darling of the city's elite medical community—was suddenly cornered like a rat.
Then, the mask completely melted away, revealing the sociopath beneath.
"You fools! You absolute fools!" Julian shrieked, his voice echoing off the sterile tile walls, losing all professional decorum. He jerked his arm away from my grip, turning his fury toward the officers. "Do you know who I am? I am the chief of surgery! I bring millions in grant money to this county! You can't touch me! This is a coup! My wife—my hysterical, unstable wife—made all of this up!"
He spun toward Chloe, his expression twisting into a mask of pure, venomous hatred. He lunged past the troopers before they could react, aiming straight for the examination table where Chloe was cowering.
"You bitch!" Julian roared, his hand raised, fingers curled into a vicious claw. "You ruined everything! I'll kill you right here—!"
He didn't even get to finish the sentence.
I didn't hesitate. Seizing the heavy steel medical tray from the counter, I swung it with every ounce of fury I possessed, slamming the heavy metallic edge directly across Julian’s shoulder blade. The impact sent him stumbling violently off balance, crashing hard into the high-tech ultrasound machine. The monitor shattered in a shower of sparks and glass.
Before Julian could recover his footing, the three state troopers swarmed him.
"Stop resisting!" the lead officer barked, tackling Julian to the floor.
A fierce struggle ensued. Julian thrashed, kicked, and screamed obscenities, fighting with the feral desperation of a cornered beast. But the officers were trained professionals. With a sharp click, the cold steel handcuffs clamped around his wrists, pinning his arms tightly behind his back.
They yanked him up off the floor, his pristine white coat stained with dust and spilled ultrasound gel, his designer tie twisted around his neck like a noose.
As they dragged him past me toward the door, Julian twisted his neck, glaring at me with eyes burning with pure, unadulterated murderous intent.
"You think you won?" Julian snarled, spittle flying from his lips as his voice rose to a manic pitch. "You think locking me up stops anything? Look at her! She's thirty-eight weeks pregnant! The stress, the trauma—she's going into shock! Without me, she and that baby are dead meat! You signed their death warrants!"
My heart skipped a beat as I looked at Chloe.
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She was slumped against the examination table, her breathing shallow and rapid, clutching her stomach as a low, agonizing moan escaped her lips. A dark stain began to spread across the paper sheet beneath her.
Her water had just broken.
