Chapter 11 - THE SYRINGE AT HER THROAT
Mia stopped breathing.
Dr. Reed held her against his chest.
“One step and she dies.”
Police remained hidden beyond the walls.
They could see the room.
They could not risk a shot.
Julian backed away from Reed.
“You said no one else would get hurt.”
Mia looked at him in disbelief.
“You were going to kill Harper.”
“That was different.”
Those words destroyed whatever remained of her feelings for him.
Beatrice moved toward the dining table.
“Malcolm, put the syringe down.”
“You brought us here.”
“No.”
She pointed at Julian.
“He did.”
Julian laughed.
“You planned everything.”
“You stole the Stanford letter.”
“You arranged Cassandra’s payments.”
“You ordered Peter to forge the deed.”
Beatrice’s face became cold.
“And you obeyed.”
For once, she was telling the truth.
Julian had spent years blaming his mother for the choices that benefited him.
He had been controlled.
He had also cooperated.
Dr. Reed tightened his grip around Mia.
“I need the original drive.”
“That is not it?” Beatrice asked.
I shook my head.
“The original is already with prosecutors.”
Beatrice looked toward Julian.
“You fool.”
He moved toward her.
She slapped him.
The sound echoed through the dining room.
It was not the first time she had struck him.
The way he froze revealed that.
For one second, I saw the frightened boy beneath the selfish man.
Then he raised the gun.
He pointed it at his mother.
“You ruined my life.”
Beatrice stared at him.
“I built your life.”
“No.”
“You built a cage and taught me to call it love.”
The gun trembled.
I believed he might shoot her.
Then Mia drove her heel into Dr. Reed’s foot.
He lost balance.
She twisted away.
The syringe fell.
Police burst through the doors.
Dr. Reed reached for it.
An officer tackled him.
Julian dropped the gun.
Beatrice ran toward the service hallway.
Marcus blocked the exit.
She struck him with a brass candlestick.
He remained standing.
For the first time, Beatrice had nowhere to direct the story.
No one inside the room depended on her approval.
Officers placed her in handcuffs.
She looked at me.
“You think you won.”
“This was never a competition.”
“Everything is.”
“That is why you lost your entire family.”
Julian was handcuffed next.
He turned toward Mia.
“Tell them I never wanted to hurt you.”
She stared at him.
“You wanted Harper dead.”
“You wanted me silent.”
“You wanted your mother blamed.”
“You wanted everyone useful and no one equal.”
He lowered his eyes.
Police led him away.
Dr. Reed was placed under arrest for conspiracy and attempted murder.
The syringe contained the same drug found in Julian’s anniversary packet.
The arrests should have ended the nightmare.
They did not.
When officers searched Dr. Reed’s medical case, they found a second insurance policy.
It was not for me.
It was for Noah.
May you like
Julian had insured his own six-year-old son for five million dollars.
Beatrice was the beneficiary.
