Chapter 3 - The Price of a Heartbeat
Beatrice took a step back, her eyes darting between the tablet and the door. The grand matriarch of the Miller family looked suddenly fragile, her carefully curated posture crumbling under the weight of the digital evidence.
"Julian," Beatrice stammered, her voice dropping its haughty tone. "You must understand... Leo is very sick. His heart is failing. We only wanted to ensure he was receiving the proper care. Victoria was probably just double-checking the dosage."
"With a concealed syringe under his breakfast napkin?" Mara asked, her voice cutting through Beatrice’s excuses like a scalpel. "A syringe filled with a lethal concentration of potassium chloride? If Leo had received this injection, his heart would have stopped within minutes, mimicking a sudden pediatric cardiac arrest. And because of his pre-existing condition, no coroner would have questioned it."
Leo stirred in his bed, his small hand reaching out to clutch his teddy bear. At seven years old, he had spent the last year of his life trapped in this room, his body weakening day by day while the doctors we paid fortunes claimed they couldn't find the source of his decline.
"Why?" I asked, looking directly at my mother. "He is your grandson, Beatrice. He is a child."
"He is the only thing standing between us and the family trust, Julian!" Victoria shrieked, her panic finally erupting into ugly, raw truth. "Your father’s will was clear! If Leo dies before his eighth birthday, the entire estate—the land, the patents, the offshore accounts—reverts to Beatrice and her designated heirs. Which is me and my husband! You were going to let him drag this family into bankruptcy with his medical bills!"
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"Bankruptcy?" I laughed, a bitter, hollow sound. "I built a multi-million-dollar tech firm, Victoria. I have more than enough to cover his bills."
"Not after your mother’s secret debts are paid," Mara said, pulling a folded printout from her coat pocket. "The real reason I was hired, Beatrice. I spent the last three weeks auditing your private accounts. You owe forty million dollars to a predatory lending syndicate in Macau. If the trust doesn't clear by next month, they won't just take your houses. They'll take your life."
