Chapter 10 - The Dose Meant to End Her Career
Toxicologist Dr. Priya Shah studied the delivery schedule.
The early strips contained small amounts of sedative and NX-4.
They created fatigue, impaired concentration and temporary skin irritation.
The doses increased gradually.
By the final month, the film would deliver enough NX-4 to cause severe neurological injury.
Mara might survive.
But she could lose memory, motor control and the ability to manage her own life.
Daniel would obtain Asteria.
The board would approve the Arcwell acquisition.
And Mara would remain alive enough for him to present himself as the devoted husband caring for a permanently disabled wife.
Nora found a draft guardianship petition on Daniel’s cloud account.
It claimed Mara’s condition prevented her from making medical, financial or legal decisions.
Daniel requested full control of her personal assets, patents and company shares.
Attached was Dr. Sloan’s prepared declaration.
Lena provided the technical statement claiming Mara had mishandled toxic compounds during a paranoid episode.
They planned to blame Mara for her own poisoning.
A paragraph in Daniel’s petition read:
Mrs. Ellison’s fixation on her mattress demonstrates the extent of her delusional thinking.
Mara read it in silence.
The truth had always been in her words.
Daniel simply intended to rename it insanity.
Nora urged her to remain in protective housing.
Daniel had not been arrested yet because prosecutors were building charges strong enough to include attempted murder.
Ana’s team monitored him.
Lena had stopped appearing at Asteria.
Her apartment was empty.
Her passport had been used to book a flight to Switzerland.
The flight departed the following morning.
Police issued an alert.
Daniel denied knowing where she was.
Then Owen found an encrypted message sent from Daniel’s private account.
Take the clean research drive. Leave the originals for Mara. She’ll be blamed once the exposure story breaks.
Lena replied:
What about you?
Daniel answered:
I’m the husband who tried to save her.
He still believed he could survive by sacrificing Lena.
But Lena had anticipated him.
Before disappearing, she uploaded an encrypted insurance file to a foreign server.
The folder was titled:
IF DANIEL TURNS ON ME.
Owen could not open it without Lena’s biometric key.
The police alert reached the airport twenty minutes before boarding.
Lena was located inside a private lounge.
When officers approached, she reached for her laptop.
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Ana caught her hand before she could erase the drive.
👉 Lena was stopped before escaping, and the file she carried contained recordings of Daniel explaining exactly why Mara had to be declared insane.
