Chapter 4 - The Venom in the SyringeHannah flew up the grand staircase, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.
The hallway to the nursery was unnaturally quiet.
The two guards who were usually posted outside the door—Marco and Paul—were nowhere to be seen.
Hannah reached the nursery door and pushed it open without knocking.
Inside, Dr. Samuel Bennett stood beside the changing table. He was wearing his white medical coat, holding a small glass syringe filled with a clear, liquid substance.
Lucas lay on the table, squirming restlessly, his small shirt unbuttoned.
Dr. Bennett froze, his hand hovering two inches above Lucas’s thigh.
“Ms. Brooks,” Dr. Bennett said, his voice calm, professional, but his eyes darting nervously toward the open door. “You startled me. I’m just administering the baby’s routine vitamin complex.”
Hannah looked at the syringe. She looked at Dr. Bennett’s hands—hands that were trembling slightly.
“Where are the guards?” Hannah asked, stepping into the room and blocking the doorway with her body.
“I sent them down to the car to fetch my secondary monitor,” Bennett said smoothly, turning back toward the baby. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, this needs to be administered promptly.”
“Put it down,” Hannah said.
Bennett paused. “I beg your pardon?”
“Put the syringe down, Dr. Bennett,” Hannah said, her voice dropping into a register of cold, absolute steel. “Or I will scream, and Mercer will be up those stairs before you can push the plunger.”
Bennett’s calm facade faltered. His eyes narrowed. “Ms. Brooks, you are a wet nurse. You know nothing about pediatric medicine.”
“I know about Isabel’s diary,” Hannah said.
The doctor’s face instantly drained of all color. The syringe in his hand shook violently.
“I know what you put in her vitamins,” Hannah continued, taking a slow step toward him. “I know Vance pays your offshore accounts in the Caymans. And I know if you touch that baby with that needle, Adrian Vale will skin you alive.”
Bennett panicked.
Abandoning all professional restraint, he lunged toward Lucas, aiming the needle directly at the baby’s neck.
“No!” Hannah screamed.
She threw herself across the room, tackling the older doctor before the needle could touch the child.
They crashed into the changing table, knocking over bottles of lotion and baby powder. Bennett snarled, swinging his heavy arm and catching Hannah across the cheekbone. Pain exploded behind her eyes, but she didn't let go. She grabbed his wrist with both hands, twisting it with all her strength.
The glass syringe flew from his fingers, shattering against the hardwood floor. The clear liquid hissed slightly as it soaked into the rug.
Bennett cursed, shoving Hannah back against the rocking chair. He scrambled to his feet, pulling a small pocket knife from his jacket, his eyes wild with desperate fury.
“You foolish girl!” Bennett hissed, stepping toward her. “You were supposed to be the perfect cover! A grieving baker to take the blame when the boy died of sudden infant failure!”
Before he could take another step, the nursery door was blown off its hinges.
A massive hand reached into the room, grabbed Bennett by his throat, and lifted him three feet into the air.
Adrian Vale had arrived.
Behind him stood Mercer and four armed guards, their weapons drawn.
Adrian didn't say a word. His face was a mask of sheer, apocalyptic wrath. He hurled Bennett across the room like a ragdoll. The doctor crashed into the heavy oak wardrobe, slumping to the floor, coughing up blood.
Adrian didn't look at Bennett.
He dropped to his knees beside Hannah.
“Hannah!” Adrian cried out, his voice raw with terror. He took her face in his hands, his thumbs gently wiping away a trace of blood from her cut lip. “Are you hit? Did he hurt you?”
“Lucas...” Hannah gasped, pointing frantically at the changing table. “Check Lucas...”
Adrian turned. The baby was crying loudly, terrified by the noise, but he was completely unharmed.
Mercer scooped the baby up safely, wrapping him in a blanket and stepping back into the hallway behind the guards.
Adrian looked down at the shattered glass on the rug, then at the trembling doctor whimpering in the corner.
“Mercer,” Adrian said, his voice dropping into a whisper that was far more terrifying than a shout. “Take him to the basement. Do not let him die until he tells you every name on Vance’s payroll.”
“Understood, Boss,” Mercer growled, dragging Bennett out by his heels.
Adrian turned back to Hannah. Gently, reverently, he lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the nursery, bringing her to his own bedroom down the hall.
He set her down on the edge of his massive king-sized bed. He pulled a silk handkerchief from his pocket, dipped it into a bowl of warm water on the bedside table, and gently dabbed at the cut on her cheek.
“You saved him again,” Adrian whispered, his eyes shining with unshed tears. “You fought a grown man to save my son.”
“I read her diary, Adrian,” Hannah sobbed, the adrenaline finally leaving her body, leaving her shaking violently. “Isabel... she didn't die from natural complications. Vance poisoned her through Bennett. They killed her.”
Adrian’s hand stopped.
A silence so profound, so heavy, fell over the room that even the sound of the rain outside seemed to vanish.
Adrian lowered the handkerchief. His dark eyes locked onto hers with a absolute, terrifying clarity.
“They took my wife,” Adrian said softly. “They tried to take my son. And today... they put their hands on you.”
May you like
He reached out and gently brushed her hair away from her face, his thumb softly tracing her cheekbone.
“Tonight, Hannah,” Adrian said, “I end Julian Vance.”
