Chapter 3 - The Hidden Sedatives
Victoria panicked. Driven by pure, animalistic desperation, she lunged across the mahogany table to grab Clara’s uniform.
"Shut your mouth, you pathetic peasant!" Victoria screamed, her diamond necklace flashing violently. "I fired you! Get out!"
Dante stood up. With blinding, terrifying speed, he caught Victoria’s wrist mid-air, entirely paralyzing her with an iron grip. He violently shoved her backward into her chair, ensuring she couldn't move another inch.
Clara didn't flinch. She reached deep into the pocket of her white apron and pulled out a small, crinkled plastic blister pack. She placed it directly onto the polished mahogany table, right next to the gold knife and fork.
It was a heavy, prescription-grade sedative.
"She doesn't have dementia, Mr. Vance," Clara stated firmly, looking the towering billionaire dead in the eye. "For the last three weeks, whenever you leave for the office, your fiancée forces her to swallow these pills. She keeps her drugged, isolated, and entirely disoriented."
All the color violently drained from Dante’s face. He looked at the pills, then looked at his mother’s trembling hands.
"Is this true, Mom?" Dante whispered, his voice cracking with raw, unfiltered agony.
Eleanor wept, slowly reaching up to unbutton the cuff of her dark blue dress. She pulled the silk sleeve back, revealing five dark, purple, finger-shaped bruises dug deeply into her fragile forearm.
"She said if I told you," Eleanor choked out, her voice barely audible, "she would double the dose until my heart stopped in my sleep."
The silence in the dining room was absolute, deafening, and completely terrifying.
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Dante stared at the bruises on his mother's arm. The calm, sophisticated billionaire completely vanished, violently replaced by an apex predator who had just discovered a monster sleeping in his bed.
👉 Dante turned his lethal gaze toward Victoria, but the true nightmare of her plan hadn't even been fully exposed yet.
