Chapter 4 - THE MASK FALLS
The hospital hall was locked down under heavy security by the time Adrian and Helena arrived. Private guards stood at every entrance, refusing entry to reporters who had gathered outside like vultures.
Helena rushed through the glass doors of the intensive care unit, her heart hammering against her ribs. Through the glass, she saw her mother hooked to a array of monitors, her breathing shallow and raspy. Standing outside the room, arms crossed and an artificial expression of concern on her face, was Vivienne Vance.
“What are you doing here?” Helena demanded, marching up to her with pure fury in her eyes.
Vivienne offered a cruel, pitying smile. “I came to pay my respects to a dying woman, Helena. After all, your mother was a loyal servant to my family before she turned out to be a thief. It’s terrible what happened to her IV. The nurses in public wards can be so careless, can’t they?”
Without hesitation, Helena stepped forward and slapped Vivienne across the face with a sharp, echoing CRACK.
Vivienne gasped, stumbling back into the wall, clutching her reddened cheek in disbelief. “You filthy little rat! You touched me?”
“If my mother dies,” Helena said, her voice terrifyingly quiet, leaning in so close Vivienne could smell the iron in her words, “I won’t just expose your family’s illegal drug trials. I will personally tear down every brick of your life until you have nothing left but the clothes on your back.”
“Is that a threat?” Vivienne hissed.
“No,” Adrian’s voice boomed from the end of the corridor as he approached, flanked by three high-ranking police detectives. “It’s a criminal investigation.”
Vivienne’s eyes darted toward the officers, a flicker of panic finally showing behind her heavy makeup. “Adrian, what is this nonsense? Are you taking her side against my family?”
“The hospital’s security cameras in the ICU corridor were erased at 6:00 AM today,” Adrian said, pulling a thumb drive from his coat pocket. “Unfortunately for you, my private security team installed our own encrypted cameras in Eleanor’s room last night. We have clear 4K video of your personal assistant entering the room with a nurse’s badge and tampering with the IV pump.”
Vivienne turned pale. “That... that’s impossible!”
“Officers, arrest her assistant immediately,” Adrian ordered coolly. “And issue a warrant for Vivienne Vance as an accessory to attempted murder.”
As the detectives stepped forward, Vivienne backed away, her aristocratic composure entirely shattered. “You think you’ve won, Adrian? You think this maid is an innocent victim? Ask her about the fire! Ask her why she was on that riverboat twenty-one years ago!”
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Helena caught her breath, looking sharply at Vivienne.
“She wasn't there to save you, Adrian!” Vivienne screamed as the officers grabbed her arms. “Her father was the arsonist who blew up the boat to collect the insurance money! She’s the daughter of the man who tried to kill you!”
