Chapter 5 - The Hidden Evidence
Dorothy took a slow, trembling breath. She looked at the incredibly powerful man shielding her from the monster in the red dress.
"I'm fine, Mr. Bennett," Dorothy replied in a quiet, deeply restrained voice.
But as Dorothy slowly lowered her trembling hands from her face, Marcus noticed something horrifying. Her right hand was bleeding. She had tightly clenched her fist around a piece of the shattered porcelain, gripping it so hard that the sharp edges had cut into her palm.
"Dorothy, your hand," Marcus whispered, gently reaching out to inspect her injury. "Let go of the glass."
"It's not glass, sir," Dorothy whispered, her eyes darting nervously over Marcus's shoulder toward Vanessa.
With a shaking hand, Dorothy slowly uncurled her fingers. Resting in her bleeding palm wasn't a shard of the broken anniversary vase. It was a small, dark glass vial with a medical dropper attached to the lid.
Behind Marcus, Vanessa let out a sharp, high-pitched gasp of pure, unadulterated terror.
"Give me that!" Vanessa shrieked hysterically, completely abandoning her cold, composed arrogance. She lunged forward, raising the antique cane again, desperate to smash the vial out of the maid's hand.
Marcus moved with blinding speed. He stood up, catching the wooden cane in mid-air with his bare hand, ripping it violently out of Vanessa's grip and tossing it across the foyer.
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"Do not take another step toward her," Marcus commanded, his voice a lethal, freezing frequency. He looked down at the dark vial in Dorothy's hand, his brilliant mind racing. "Dorothy... what is this?"
👉 Dorothy looked up with absolute bravery, preparing to reveal a secret that would send the beautiful fiancée to federal prison.
