Chapter 1 - The Diagnosis of Betrayal
I didn’t go to sleep after I left his room. I went to the laundry wing.
At 4:00 AM, the massive Cade estate was as quiet as a tomb, which was exactly what Elias’s inner circle was waiting for this house to become. I found the hamper where the maids had tossed his bedding from the previous afternoon. As a nurse, you learn to identify the smell of sickness—the sharp tang of ketoacidosis, the sour notes of infection. But the sweat soaked into Elias Cade’s sheets didn't smell like a biological failing.
It smelled like garlic. Faint, metallic, and completely unnatural.
The next morning, his breakfast tray arrived, brought up by a trusted lieutenant named Marcus. A delicate porcelain bowl of beef broth and a glass of water. "Doctor's orders," Marcus said, his eyes avoiding mine. "Make sure he finishes it."
I took the tray into Elias's room, locked the heavy oak door behind me, and set it on the nightstand. Elias didn't open his eyes, his breathing shallow and labored.
I didn't wake him. Instead, I pulled a small chemical testing strip from my pocket—something I had smuggled out of the free clinic's supply closet. I dipped it into the broth.
May you like
The strip instantly turned a violent, bruised purple.
Thallium. A heavy metal. Tasteless, odorless, and highly toxic. They weren't just waiting for Elias Cade to die; they were meticulously, methodically executing him drop by drop.
