Chapter 4
Chapter 4: The Clock Starts Now
The silence in the grand foyer was suffocating. Victoria Vanguard stood frozen, her hand still pressed against her lips, staring at Clara as if the bleeding girl had just transformed into a ghost.
"The... Mayor's daughter?" Victoria’s voice was a frail whisper, completely stripped of its previous aristocratic authority. "Mayor Montgomery? No... her last name is Davis."
"Her mother’s maiden name, Mother," Ethan spat, his voice dripping with venom as he carefully lifted Clara into his arms. Her head lolled against his shoulder, leaving a thick streak of crimson on his crisp white shirt. "She wanted a normal life. She wanted to know if someone could love her without a political agenda. And you just handed her father the perfect weapon to destroy us."
Clara winced, a low groan escaping her split lips. "Ethan... everything hurts..."
"I’ve got you, baby. Stay with me, please, just keep your eyes open," Ethan murmured, his tough, billionaire exterior instantly melting into raw panic as he looked down at her. He turned his back on his mother, walking toward the grand doors. "If she loses consciousness, Victoria, I won't just let the Mayor ruin this family. I will personally hand him the security footage."
"Ethan, wait!" Victoria took a step forward, her pearls clicking frantically against her navy dress. "We can fix this. We can call a private doctor. If the media gets hold of this—if Thomas Montgomery finds out—our stocks will plummet by morning!"
"Stocks?" Ethan paused at the threshold, looking back with eyes like dry ice. "Your daughter-in-law is bleeding on the floor because you threw her down a flight of stairs, and you are thinking about Wall Street? You are sick, Mother. Pray she survives this, because if she doesn't, I will be the first witness at your murder trial."
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He kicked the heavy mahogany doors open, bursting out into the cold morning air. He laid Clara gently across the backseat of his sleek black SUV, climbing in right after her and screaming at his driver. "St. Jude’s Hospital. Now! Break every traffic law if you have to!"
As the car roared down the driveway, Ethan held Clara’s shaking hand against his chest. "Hang on, Clara. They are going to pay for this. Every single one of them."
