Chapter 4 - The Poisoned Gift
The doctor’s question hung in the air, heavy and suffocating. Sarah stared at him, her mind struggling to process the words.
"A cupcake?" Sarah repeated, her voice barely a whisper. "No. No, I packed her a turkey sandwich and an apple. Lily’s school is strictly nut-free. They don't even allow products processed in a facility with nuts. How could she get an almond-butter cupcake?"
Felix’s entire demeanor shifted. The desperate, terrified father was instantly replaced by the ruthless corporate titan who had spent his life analyzing threats. His eyes narrowed, and a cold, dangerous energy began to radiate from him.
"Do you have the wrapper?" Felix asked the doctor, his tone deadly calm.
"The school nurse handed it to the paramedics," the doctor said, gesturing to a clear plastic evidence bag resting on the nurses' station counter. "It has a bakery label on it."
Felix walked over and picked up the bag. He held it up to the harsh hospital light. The wrapper was elegant, made of thick, gold-embossed paper. In the center, a highly stylized logo was printed in looping cursive font: Celeste’s Patisserie.
Sarah gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
"Celeste," Sarah choked out, absolute horror dawning in her eyes. "Celeste’s new bakery line. The one she built using my stolen recipes."
Felix stared at the gold logo, his jaw clenching so hard it looked as though his teeth might shatter. The boardroom confrontation flashed through his mind. Celeste’s smug smile. Her cruel comment about Sarah using her child as a strategy.
"She didn't just steal your recipes," Felix growled, his voice vibrating with a terrifying, contained fury. "She sent this to the school. She sent it knowing exactly what it would do."
"Why would she do that?" Sarah cried, leaning heavily against the wall. "Lily is just a little girl! She’s innocent!"
"Because Celeste knew you were presenting the DNA test and the recipe copyrights to the board today," Felix said, turning to face Sarah. "She knew she was about to lose everything. She needed a distraction. She needed an emergency devastating enough to force you out of that boardroom before you could destroy her."
Felix pulled his cell phone from his pocket, his thumb moving rapidly across the screen.
"What are you doing?" Sarah asked, trembling.
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"I am locking this hospital down," Felix stated coldly. "And then, I am going to tear Celeste Arden’s life apart piece by piece."
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