Chapter 222
Chapter 222:
EMTs arrived, pushing past Aurora to take over Vivian’s care.
“Pressure applied to brachial artery,” Aurora told the medic. “Deep laceration. Possible nerve damage.”
The medic nodded. “Good work.”
Eleanor hovered nearby, screaming orders. “Take her to Mount Sinai! Private wing! Don’t touch her dress!”
As the police led Monica away, she stopped near Sebastian. She looked him in the eye.
“You’re next,” she whispered, her voice raspy and terrifying. “She’ll destroy you too. She eats people, Sebastian.”
Sebastian stood frozen, the crumpled text log still in his fist.
Vivian was loaded onto a stretcher. She was pale, sobbing. She reached out her uninjured hand toward Sebastian.
“Seb! Come with me!” she begged. “Don’t let me go alone!”
Sebastian looked at her bloodied hand. Then he looked at Aurora, whose hands were also stained with Vivian’s blood—blood she had stopped from spilling.
He looked at the text message. Ignore the color. He took a step back.
Vivian saw the rejection in his eyes. Her heart sank. She screamed as they wheeled her out.
The ambulance left. The party was now a crime scene.
Elias walked up to Sebastian. He held out his hand.
“Give me the paper,” Elias said.
Sebastian hesitated. He looked at Elias, expecting the usual disdain. But Elias looked expectant.
“You can keep protecting them,” Elias said, his voice low enough that only Sebastian could hear, “or you can see the truth. I have a file, Sebastian. Gambling debts in Monaco. The shell company Eleanor used to pay them off. I could destroy you right now. But I think this piece of paper does a better job.”
Sebastian’s face drained of color. He realized then that Elias had known everything all along. He handed the paper over without a fight. He looked broken. The illusion of his perfect family had shattered.
Elias read it loud enough for the press photographers, who had somehow slipped past security, to hear.
“Don’t trust doctors,” Elias read aloud.
Flashes went off. Reporters scribbled furiously. The headline was already written: Socialite Advises Poison Over Medicine.
Eleanor tried to confiscate the papers from guests. She ran around like a madwoman, snatching sheets from their hands.
“This is private property! Slander! Give that back!”
“It’s too late, Eleanor,” Harper Yates said, holding up her phone. “It’s everywhere. The internet has already convicted her.”
Eleanor stopped. She looked at the phone screen. Thousands of retweets. The text logs were viral.
Aurora watched Monica being put into the back of a squad car through the open doors. She felt a deep, exhausting sadness. Two lives destroyed—a child dead, a mother imprisoned—all because of one woman’s vanity.
.