Chapter 5 - The Web of Poison
The sterile white lights of the hospital hallway buzzed overhead like an angry hornet’s nest. Dr. Vance’s words hung in the air between us, heavy and suffocating. High-dose blood thinners. Attempted poisoning. They hadn't just wanted to humiliate Elena; they had tried to eliminate her, and by extension, my unborn child, so that no heir outside my mother’s direct control could ever claim a stake in the Sterling estate.
“Did you hear that, Mother?” I asked, my voice terrifyingly calm as I stepped closer to her. “Someone tried to murder my wife. In our own home. Using prescription medication that only a select few in our household have access to.”
My mother’s face flushed crimson, though she quickly recovered her icy composure. “Don’t be absurd, Daniel. The girl probably bought discount supplements online and overdosed out of pure ignorance or attention-seeking hysteria. You’re letting your emotions cloud your judgment.”
“Attention-seeking?” I pulled out my phone, tapped the screen twice, and held it up directly in front of her face. Playing on the screen was high-definition CCTV footage retrieved from our mansion's master dressing room—footage I had downloaded remotely while sitting in my car outside.
The video clearly showed Lucas opening Elena’s private vitamin bottle, meticulously swapping the capsules with a generic white bottle, and pocketing the original container with a smug smirk.
Lucas gasped, stepping back and hitting the wall behind him. “Where... where did you get that? That camera was disabled!”
“You forgot that I updated the home security firmware last month, Lucas,” I said, my eyes burning with a dark, vengeful fire. “You thought you were being clever, but every keystroke, every door unlock, every movement in that house is logged to my private cloud server. You didn’t just embezzle corporate funds; you attempted premeditated poisoning.”
Arthur Sterling, who had quietly joined them in the hallway, took one look at Lucas’s terrified expression and immediately backed away, raising his hands in surrender. “Mr. Sterling—Daniel—I have nothing to do with this. I’m just an employee. I didn’t know anything about poisoning.”
“Shut up, Arthur, you pathetic coward!” my mother snapped, glaring at him before turning her venomous gaze back to me. “So what if Lucas played a prank? Boys will be boys. You can’t take this to the police without dragging the Sterling name through the mud. Do you have any idea what the tabloids will do if they find out the heir to Sterling Holdings was arrested for attempted murder? The stock will plummet fifty percent by opening bell tomorrow!”
“Let it plummet,” I whispered, leaning in so close she could see the absolute hatred in my eyes. “I would rather burn every penny my father ever earned than let either of you draw another breath as a free person. Security!”
At my call, two private armed guards—men I trusted implicitly, brought in by Aunt Victoria—stepped out of the stairwell and blocked both ends of the hallway.
“Detain Lucas Sterling and Eleanor Sterling for questioning regarding attempted murder and corporate embezzlement,” I commanded.
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“You can’t do this to me! I am your mother!” she shrieked, her voice echoing down the sterile corridor as the guards grabbed her arms. Passersby and nurses stared in shock.
“You stopped being my mother the moment you put your foot on my wife’s shoulder,” I said coldly, turning my back on them as they were led away in cuffs. “Take them to holding. I’ll meet the detectives there.”
