Chapter 10 - The Woman Outside the Window
The hospital room was on the third floor.
There was no balcony.
Security footage showed no one entering through the hallway.
A maintenance ladder had been left against the rear wall.
Someone wearing a hood climbed it during a camera outage.
Ethan was asleep when the scarf appeared.
Or he pretended to be.
He later admitted hearing the window open.
“Why did you stay quiet?” Dr. Bell asked.
“Isabella said if I screamed, Dad would die.”
The threat had been delivered days earlier inside the chamber.
Even absent, Isabella controlled the room through memory.
The scarf contained traces of Claire’s perfume.
It had been removed from storage after her death.
A note was sewn into the edge.
COME HOME BEFORE THE HOUSE FORGETS YOU.
The message was intended to lure Ethan back to the estate emotionally, even if Isabella could not reach him physically.
Police moved him to a secure pediatric facility.
William transferred temporary guardianship oversight to the court voluntarily.
His attorneys warned him the decision could weaken his claim.
He answered that Ethan’s safety mattered more than winning a claim against his own son.
The board suspended William pending the fraud investigation.
Julian also resigned.
For the first time in generations, no Sterling family member controlled Sterling Global or the foundation.
An independent administrator took over.
The company’s share price dropped.
Employees feared layoffs.
Isabella released another statement through an anonymous account.
She accused William of inventing Ethan’s kidnapping to remove her from the board.
She accused me of seducing a grieving billionaire.
The claim spread faster than the evidence correcting it.
Reporters appeared outside my apartment.
My landlord received calls.
Someone posted photographs of my younger sister online.
I considered leaving Ethan’s support team.
Dr. Bell asked why.
“Because my presence is creating more attention.”
“No,” she said.
“Isabella is creating attention to remove a witness Ethan trusts.”
Leaving would teach him that threats worked.
I stayed.
Then Detective Ortiz found the source of the white scarf.
The package had been removed from Sterling Manor by the night manager.
Harris.
He admitted helping someone access the hospital ladder.
He claimed Isabella threatened his daughter.
She had photographs of the young woman accepting drugs at a party.
Harris believed exposure would destroy her medical career.
“Did you see Isabella?” Ortiz asked.
“No.”
“Who gave you instructions?”
“Conrad.”
Conrad remained missing.
Harris provided the location of a safe house near the border.
Police raided it.
Conrad was gone.
Inside, they found passports, cash, and a live video feed from Sterling Manor.
The feed showed Isabella standing inside Claire’s former bedroom.
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She had returned to the estate.
In her hand was a red fuel can.
