Chapter 10 - The Invisible Threat
Back in her luxury penthouse, Celeste Arden was pacing the floor like a caged animal. The news was completely silent regarding the child’s condition, which meant Lily was still alive. And if Lily survived, Felix would inevitably trace the poisoned cupcake back to her. Odette had already made it devastatingly clear that she would offer no protection.
Celeste needed a permanent solution, and she needed it tonight.
She poured herself a massive glass of wine, her hands shaking violently. She had to finish what she started. If Lily died, Sarah would be utterly broken by grief, completely incapable of fighting a protracted legal battle over copyrights and paternity. Felix would be devastated, but he would eventually return to the familiar, cold comfort of the corporate empire. It was the only way to save her future.
She pulled out a second burner phone and dialed a number she had acquired through a shady corporate espionage contact months ago.
"Hello?" a gruff voice answered.
"I need a job done at Presbyterian Hospital," Celeste said, her voice shaking with desperate adrenaline. "Pediatric Intensive Care Unit."
"That floor is heavily guarded right now," the voice replied cautiously. "Word is a billionaire locked it down with private muscle."
"I don't care about the guards," Celeste snapped. "I need someone on the inside. A nurse, a janitor, a technician. Someone who already has clearance to be in the room."
"That’s going to be incredibly expensive, lady."
"I will transfer two hundred thousand dollars in cryptocurrency to your wallet the second the job is confirmed," Celeste offered without hesitation.
"What's the job?"
"There is a six-year-old girl named Lily Marlowe in Room 4," Celeste instructed, her moral compass completely shattering in the face of her own self-preservation. "She is recovering from severe anaphylaxis. Her system is incredibly fragile. I need someone to slip a concentrated dose of epinephrine or a heavy sedative into her IV line. Make it look like a sudden, tragic medical complication. A fatal heart attack."
The line was silent for a long, terrifying moment.
"Consider it done," the voice finally agreed. "The money better be there by morning."
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Celeste hung up the phone, staring blankly at the dark city skyline through her floor-to-ceiling windows. She had crossed a line from which there was no return. She was no longer just a corporate thief; she was an assassin. But in her twisted, panicked mind, it was the only way to keep the crown she had stolen.
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