Chapter 5 - THE HUNT IN THE DARK"NOOOOO!" Julian screamed, lunging across the room toward Emily. "You stolen brat! I'll kill you!"
Before he could reach her, the two court-appointed bailiffs tackled Julian to the floor, driving his face into the hard tiles and pulling his arms violently behind his back.
"Julian Vance, you are under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, and fraud!" Judge Miller declared, his voice shaking with indignation. "Doctor, place this hospital on complete police lockdown immediately!"
While the officers were pinning Julian down, Victoria, hyperventilating on the floor, suddenly scrambled to her feet. Seeing the distraction, she lunged out the open door of the consultation room and vanished down the hallway.
"Stop her!" Dr. Harrison yelled.
"Let her go," Judge Miller commanded. "There are police units surrounding the building. She won't get far."
Emily stood frozen, staring at the blank screen of the laptop. The revelation had completely shattered everything she thought she knew about the Vance family. Julian and Victoria were never Arthur’s children—they were parasites sent to destroy him from the inside out.
Suddenly, the emergency lights in the hospital room began to flicker.
BZZZZT.
A low, vibrating rumble echoed through the building. A second later, all the lights in the ICU corridor went completely black.
The emergency backup generators failed to kick in.
"What's happening?" Emily asked, her pulse spiking again.
"The main power grid went down," Dr. Harrison said, whipping out a flashlight. "That's impossible... the hospital has triple-redundant backup systems!"
From down the dark corridor, the muffled sound of a gunshot echoed through the hall.
PTT-PTT.
It was the unmistakable sound of a silenced 9mm pistol.
Emily’s blood ran cold. Dr. Sterling. He hadn't fled the estate to hide. He had followed her to the hospital. And now, under the cover of a deliberate blackout, he was here to finish the job—by cutting off Arthur’s life support manually.
"He’s in Dad’s room!" Emily yelled, grabbing a heavy flash-light from the desk and sprinting out into the pitch-black hallway.
"Emily, wait! It's dangerous!" Dr. Harrison shouted after her, but she was already gone.
Emily navigated the dark corridor by memory, her flashlight beam cutting through the shadows. The hallway was filled with confused screams from nurses and patients, but the ICU wing was eerily quiet.
She reached Room 402—Arthur’s room. The heavy door was standing slightly ajar.
Emily crept forward, her boots making no sound. She pushed the door open.
In the faint beam of her flashlight, she saw a figure standing over Arthur’s bed.
It was Dr. Marcus Sterling. He had opened the manual valve on Arthur’s oxygen tank, cutting off his air supply, and was reaching down with a gloved hand to pinch off the main IV line delivering his heart medication.
"Step away from him, Sterling," Emily said, her voice dripping with lethal coldness.
Sterling turned slowly in the dark, the silencer on his gun reflecting the beam of her flashlight. His face was twisted into a grotesque, manic grin.
"You really are a persistent pest, aren't you, Emily?" Sterling chuckled softly. "Cutting the hospital's main power junction in the basement was almost too easy. In five minutes without oxygen, your precious 'father' will suffer irreversible brain death. And no court in the world can prove I did it."
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"You won't survive this night," Emily said, taking a step closer, holding the flashlight straight at his eyes to blind him.
"Maybe not," Sterling whispered, raising the gun. "But you definitely won't."
