Chapter 90
No.1
"The little girl is going to love it so much," Phineas mumbled happily, his eyes crinkling as he smiled at the glittering jewels.
August's hand froze on the brass door handle.
He stopped pushing the door. The silence in the room suddenly became heavy, thick, and incredibly dangerous.
"When are you bringing her to see me, Elisa?"Phineas continued, his voice taking on a wistful,pleading tone. "The house is too quiet. You and August should really have a baby... give me a beautiful little great-grandchild..."
A little girl.
August's entire body went rigid. The words hit his brain like a physical electric shock. He slowly released the door handle. He turned around.
His dark eyes, previously filled with arrogant manipulation, were now sharp, focused, and burning
with a terrifying, predatory suspicion. He stared at the old man in the bed, then slowly shifted his gaze to Elisa.
"A little girl?" August repeated. His voice was a loW,vibrating rumble that shook the air in the room."What little girl? And why is he talking about you bringing her here?"
No.2
Elisa's heart violently slammed against her ribs. The blood drained from her face so fast she felt dizzy.The room tilted.
Her greatest nightmare was unfolding in real-time.The secret she had protected with her life, the daughter she had hidden for five years, was being casually exposed by a man who didn't even know what year it was.
She dug her fingernails into her palms, using the sharp physical pain to force her brain into overdrive.She could not panic. If she panicked, Kayden was dead.
Elisa let out a harsh, bitter laugh. She rolled her eyes,injecting her voice with pure, exhausted mockery.
"Are you seriously interrogating a man with stage-
three Alzheimer's, August?" Elisa sneered, stepping between August and the bed.
She pointed a finger at her grandfather. "He doesn't even know who you are half the time! He thinks Arthur Sinclair is still his son-in-law! The 'little girl'he's talking about is me. He thinks it's 1995 and I'm still five years old playing in the dirt!"
August narrowed his eyes. He stepped away from the door, slowly walking back toward the center of the room. He was evaluating her face, searching for the micro-expressions of a lie.
Phineas's dementia was severe. Time-jumping was a common symptom. The explanation was perfectly logical.
No.3
But August was a paranoid, controlling billionaire.He remembered the locked doors. He remembered her absolute refusal to let him see her medical records.He remembered the way she guarded her phone.
He closed the distance between them. He backed Elisa up until her shoulders hit the cold plaster wvall.He placed a heavy hand on the wall right next to her head, trapping her in his shadow.
"You have been hiding things from me for years,Elisa," August whispered, his face inches from hers.His breath smelled of bourbon and danger. "If I find out you have been keeping a secret like that from me..you know exactly what I am capable of."
Elisa didn't shrink away. She tilted her chin up, her black eyes burning with absolute defiance.
"I hide a lot of things from you, August," Elisa hissed,her voice dripping with venom. "Like how much l physically despise you. Like how your touch makes my skin crawl. Do you want to investigate that too?"
The air between them crackled with violent,explosive tension. August's jaw clenched. He was inches away from completely losing control.
Bzzzt.Bzzzt.
Elisa's phone, tucked into the pocket of her slacks,vibrated.
It wasn't a standard ring. It was two short, sharp bursts. It was the emergency physical proximity signal she had set up with Alastair.
No.4
It meant Alastair was here. It meant Kayden was here.
They were outside the building.
If August walked out of this room right now, if he went down to the lobby or the parking lot, he would walk right into them.
Total, absolute panic seized Elisa's lungs. She had to get him out of here, and she had to make him run in the opposite direction.
She shoved both of her hands against August's chest, pushing him away with violent force.
"Get out!" Elisa screamed, injecting every ounce of her genuine terror into a mask of hysterical anger. "I am sick of your paranoia! I am sick of your face! Take your necklace and go back to your pathetic, whining mistress!"
August stumbled back a step, shocked by her sudden physical outburst. His ego flared. He hated being yelled at.
"You are losing your mind, Elisa," August sneered,straightening his jacket. "Keep the necklace. And keep your mouth shut."
He turned sharply toward the door.
No.5
Just as his hand reached the brass handle again, his own cell phone erupted with a loud, piercing ringtone.
August yanked it out of his pocket. He answered it angrily."What?"
"Sir, you need to see this now." It was Simon, his voice tight with an unprecedented level of urgency."There's a leak. A major one. The financial blogs are reporting that Aethel Intelligence just filed a patent for a predictive algorithm that perfectly mirrors the core function of Project Chiron. Our stock is projected to open down twenty percent. They're accusing us of corporate espionage."
August's face went completely, deathly pale. The suspicion, the anger, the interrogation-everything vanished in a microsecond. This was a direct nuclear attack on his company.
"Cromwell," August snarled into the phone. "I'm on my way."
He didn't wait for an answer. He ripped the heavy wooden door open and sprinted out of the hospital room, running down the corridor with frantic,
desperate speed.
The door slammed shut behind him.
Elisa's knees instantly gave out. She collapsed onto the linoleum floor, her back sliding down the wall.She gasped for air, her entire body shaking violently.Cold sweat poured down her spine.
No.6
She had survived. The bomb had ticked down to zero, and Alastair's corporate warfare had magically cut the wire.
Elisa scrambled to her feet. She pulled her phone out and dialed Alastair.
"Where are you?" Elisa demanded, her voice breathless.
"Underground parking garage, Level B," Alastair's calm voice replied. "I just saw August's Maybach tear out of the exit ramp like a bat out of hell. The perimeter is clear."
Elisa didn't say goodbye. She hung up, sprinted out of the room, and bolted for the service elevator.
She hit the button for Level B. The doors slid open to the dark, concrete expanse of the underground
garage.
Parked in the shadows of a concrete pillar was a sleek,black SUV.
The heavy rear door swung open.
No.7
A tiny figure with dark hair and bright, intelligent eyes launched herself out of the vehicle.
"Mommy!"
Kayden hit Elisa like a cannonball. Elisa dropped to her knees on the dirty concrete, wrapping her arms around her daughter's small body, burying her face in the girl's hair. She held her so tight her muscles ached, tears of absolute, overwhelming relief finally pouring down her face.
She was safe. The secret was safe.④