Chapter 5 - The Man in Scrubs
Daniel ran after the man.
“Stop!”
The stranger pushed through the staff door and sprinted down a service corridor.
Daniel followed, shouting for security.
The man threw a supply cart behind him. Daniel jumped aside as metal trays crashed across the floor.
The stranger reached the emergency stairwell.
Daniel caught the back of his scrub shirt and slammed him against the wall.
A syringe fell from the man’s pocket.
Security guards arrived seconds later and restrained him.
Detective Brooks picked up the syringe carefully.
“What is this?”
The man said nothing.
Daniel looked at his identification badge.
It was fake.
A nurse examined the syringe through its plastic evidence sleeve.
“This medication can cause respiratory failure in a heavily sedated patient.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
The man had not come to help Victoria escape.
He had come to make sure Elena never woke up.
Brooks searched his pockets and found a prepaid phone.
The most recent message read:
Room 814. Finish before surgery ends.
The sender was saved under one letter.
V.
Victoria.
Police officers were immediately sent to arrest her.
But when they reached the mansion, she was gone.
So was Marcus.
The coffin remained open beneath the chandelier.
Victoria’s car was still parked outside.
She had escaped through the underground garage using a vehicle registered to the family foundation.
Daniel returned to the surgical waiting area.
After nearly two hours, the doctor emerged.
“We delivered your daughter by emergency cesarean section.”
Daniel could barely speak.
“Is she alive?”
“She is premature and needs respiratory support, but she’s fighting.”
“And Elena?”
“The sedatives complicated the surgery. She lost blood, but she made it through.”
Daniel covered his face.
For the first time since entering the mansion, he allowed himself to cry.
The doctor placed a hand on his shoulder.
“You can see your daughter briefly.”
Inside the neonatal unit, Daniel stood beside a tiny incubator.
His daughter’s chest rose beneath thin blankets.
She curled one hand around the tip of his finger.
“I’m here,” he whispered. “Daddy’s here.”
A nurse handed him a sealed plastic bag containing Elena’s personal belongings.
Inside was her wedding ring, a broken phone, and a small voice recorder shaped like a pendant.
Daniel pressed the button.
Elena’s voice filled the quiet room.
“Daniel, if you hear this, something has happened to me.”
He closed his eyes.
“I found proof that Victoria arranged your father’s death.”
Daniel’s hand went still.
The theft was not the largest secret.
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The coffin had been planned by a woman who may already have killed one member of the family.
👉 Elena’s hidden recording revealed that Daniel’s father had discovered Victoria’s crimes on the night he died.
