Chapter 201
Chapter 201:
Aurora locked the door behind her. She looked up at the camera lens in the corner. She didn’t block it. She simply tapped her earlobe twice—a signal she knew Elias would understand. He was watching. He would loop the feed.
She approached the bed.
“Sorry, Julian,” she whispered. “I need the proof.”
She opened her hidden kit. A roll of leather containing her silver acupuncture needles.
She rolled up his sleeve. She found the meridian point connected to the liver—the organ that filters toxins. She inserted a needle.
She waited. The silence in the room was heavy.
Ten seconds. Twenty.
She removed the needle. She then pulled out a small, chemically treated test strip from a sealed pouch. She pressed the tip of the needle against the strip.
Aurora watched the strip. She didn’t blink. She didn’t gasp. Her expression was hard, grim, and utterly unsurprised.
The white paper instantly turned a violent, bruised purple.
There was no shock in her eyes, only a cold, burning satisfaction. She had known it since the first night she touched his wrist. She had known it when Elias confirmed the silver tarnish. But knowing wasn’t enough. She needed this piece of paper. She needed the chemical signature that would stand up in a court of law—or in the court of the Matriarch.
“Thallium,” she whispered, her voice steady. “Got you.”
This explained why he never woke up. Why his muscles were atrophied but his brain activity flickered. Someone was keeping him in this state. Someone was dosing him. Every. Single. Day.
For nineteen years.
She heard footsteps outside the door. Heavy. Purposeful.
𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁 gⱯ𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀⨁𝗰𝗈𝗺
Aurora quickly cleaned the needle with an alcohol wipe and hid the kit in her dress pocket. She smoothed the sheet over Julian’s arm.
The door handle rattled. Locked.
“Who’s in there?” It was Eleanor’s voice. Sharp. Suspicious.
Aurora unlocked the door and opened it. She ruffed her hair slightly, looking disheveled and emotional.
Eleanor stood there, her eyes narrowing. “Aurora? What are you doing in here? The party is downstairs.”
“I was just… saying goodnight to my cousin,” Aurora lied smoothly, wiping a fake tear from her eye. “I wanted to show him the brooch. I thought maybe… maybe he’d sense it. I remember playing with him when we were small.”
Eleanor scanned the room. She looked at the IV bag. She looked at the monitors. Nothing seemed amiss.
“You shouldn’t disturb him,” Eleanor said coldly. “He’s fragile. Excitement isn’t good for him.”
“Excitement?” Aurora asked innocently. “He’s in a coma, Aunt Eleanor.”
“Dr. Pym says stimulation can cause seizures,” Eleanor lied.
Aurora noticed Eleanor’s eyes dart to the IV bag again. Just a flicker. But Aurora saw it.
You, Aurora realized. You’re the gatekeeper.