Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN ON THE FLOOR
Celeste’s body convulsed beneath the chandelier light.
Guests backed away in panic.
Several people lifted phones.
Others rushed toward the locked ballroom doors.
“Call an ambulance,” Adrian shouted.
A doctor attending the wedding pushed through the crowd.
His name was Dr. Elias Grant, head of emergency medicine at Cross Memorial Hospital.
He checked Celeste’s pulse.
“Move everyone back.”
Emma followed him toward the floor.
Vanessa blocked her.
“Stay away from her.”
Emma stared at the bride.
“You were ready to have me arrested ten minutes ago.”
“You are not touching another person.”
Vanessa’s face twisted.
“You contaminated the service area.”
“The footage showed you handing Celeste the vial.”
“That vial contained perfume oil.”
“Then why did Julian use it in the kitchen?”
Vanessa opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Dr. Grant loosened Celeste’s dress at the neck.
Her breathing became shallow.
“I need epinephrine and activated charcoal.”
Emma pointed toward the service corridor.
“The catering medical kit is in the west pantry.”
Marcus sent a guard.
Vanessa remained on her knees.
She held Celeste’s hand.
“Please do not die.”
Her voice sounded convincing.
Her eyes did not.
Emma noticed something silver beneath Celeste’s bracelet.
A needle mark.
Fresh.
She crouched.
“She was injected.”
Dr. Grant looked.
“You are right.”
He turned Celeste’s arm.
A second puncture mark appeared near the inside of her elbow.
“This was not from the champagne.”
Adrian looked at Vanessa.
“When was she injected?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were beside her all evening.”
“So were hundreds of people.”
Emma studied Celeste’s clutch bag.
The zipper stood open.
A folded document protruded from inside.
Vanessa noticed her looking.
She reached for the bag.
Emma grabbed it first.
Vanessa slapped her hand away.
“That belongs to Celeste.”
Marcus stepped between them.
“Nobody touches anything.”
The guard returned with the medical kit.
Dr. Grant treated Celeste while the estate’s emergency team prepared the ballroom for evacuation.
The grand doors remained locked.
Marcus had ordered them sealed after discovering several security officers had been bribed.
Adrian’s own wedding had become a crime scene.
A second security officer brought plastic evidence gloves.
Emma put them on and carefully opened Celeste’s bag.
Vanessa stared at her.
“You are a waitress.”
Emma met her gaze.
“I studied forensic accounting for two years before my father got sick.”
“I know what a staged financial document looks like.”
Inside the clutch was an unsigned medical proxy form.
Adrian’s name appeared at the top.
Vanessa was listed as primary decision-maker.
Julian was named alternate.
A second page granted temporary voting control over Adrian’s shares if he became medically incapacitated.
The third page contained Adrian’s signature.
Adrian snatched it.
“I never signed this.”
Emma examined the ink.
“The signature was transferred.”
She pointed toward faint pixelation around the edges.
“This was printed from a scanned document.”
Marcus found another item inside the bag.
A disposable injector.
The barrel was empty.
Dr. Grant looked toward it.
“That could explain the collapse.”
Celeste’s eyes opened.
She tried to speak.
Vanessa leaned close.
“It is all right.”
Celeste stared at her.
Fear replaced confusion.
She grabbed Dr. Grant’s sleeve.
“Do not let her near me.”
The ballroom went silent.
Vanessa stood.
“She is delirious.”
Celeste shook her head weakly.
“She injected me.”
Vanessa’s expression hardened.
“You begged me to include you.”
“You said you wanted the money.”
Celeste began crying.
“I wanted out.”
“You said Julian would kill me.”
Adrian turned toward Julian.
He was being held near the west corridor by two guards.
Julian’s face remained calm.
Celeste pointed at him.
“He said the drive could destroy Cross Meridian.”
“He said Adrian could never be allowed to see it.”
May you like
Julian smiled.
Then every light in the ballroom went dark.
