Chapter 2

2: 2

The ballroom went silent in an instant.

The color drained from the false Elise's face.

"Vanessa, what are you saying?"

She took a step toward me.

I raised my hand between us.

"Don't touch me."

Three short words, and her eyes reddened at once.

"Is it because I've been so busy with Farley Group's listing lately, because I haven't spent time with you? Are you upset?"

She softened her voice, the way she always used to.

"It's my fault. Once the gala is over, I'll go back to the old orphanage site with you. All right? You've always wanted to go back and see it."

That was the exact tone Elise used whenever she was coaxing me.

For a moment, I almost hoped my Primordial Pulse art had failed me.

But the Primordial Gold Thread coiled around my right wrist was tightening, inch by inch.

It had sensed the breath of death.

The thing in front of me was not alive.

Raymond stepped in front of her.

"Ms. Ashford, there's a lot of press here tonight. Whatever you have to say, we can discuss it in private."

I gave him no room.

"Elise has had a congenital arrhythmia since she was a child. She has to be checked every three months. Bring out her medical records for the past year."

Raymond's brow furrowed.

"Her health has recovered."

"Congenital heart disease doesn't heal for no reason."

I looked at the false Elise.

"Where's your heart medication?"

She hesitated a moment, then took a clear pill bottle from her clutch.

"It's here."

I took the bottle, shook out a white tablet, and crushed it under my nail.

No musk, no borneol. Only the smell of cheap orange flavoring.

"This is a vitamin."

My eyes settled on Raymond's face.

"Chairman Farley, you swapped her life-saving medication for vitamins. Do you want her dead, or did you know all along that she never needed the medication at all?"

The crowd began to stir.

Raymond did not panic.

He took the tablet and explained calmly:

"This is a new drug developed by a Swiss lab for Elise's specific condition. The approval and import paperwork are all with our private medical team. If you have doubts, Ms. Ashford, you're welcome to have someone verify it."

"Of course I will."

I turned to my assistant.

"Get the legal department and the medical investment division at Kyros Capital on the line. In ten minutes, I want everything on this drug, and Elise Cooley's medical visit records for the past three years."

"Yes, Ms. Ashford."

The assistant pulled out a phone immediately.

The smile on Raymond's face finally faded.

"Vanessa, this is our family matter."

"Anything to do with Elise is my matter."

I looked at the press in the room.

"Tonight's gala is suspended. All directors of Farley Group stay. Everyone else, out."

My voice wasn't loud, but no one dared argue.

Kyros Capital held twenty-seven percent of Farley Group.

I was Farley Group's largest outside shareholder, and the only person who had dared to bet on the company back when it was on the edge of bankruptcy.

Raymond's eyes went fully dark.

"Ms. Ashford, have you forgotten this is Farley Group's gala?"

"And you've forgotten that without my money, Farley Group wouldn't have lived to see today."

I stepped forward.

"Hand Elise over to me. I'm taking her to the hospital."

"I won't go!"

The false Elise spoke up suddenly.

She came around Raymond, tears spilling over.

"Vanessa, why do you have to ruin my happiness, and today of all days?"

I froze.

Her voice trembled, as if she'd held it back for a long time.

"You've been like this since we were children. I wanted to make friends with other people, and you weren't happy. I wanted to leave the orphanage, and you weren't happy. I wanted to marry Raymond, and you weren't happy either."

"You always said it was for my own good. But did you ever ask whether I wanted to be controlled by you?"

Every camera in the ballroom was aimed at me.

These words, Elise had actually once said to me.

Three years ago, over Raymond, we'd had our worst fight.

She had smashed the cup I gave her, and asked me with red eyes:

"Vanessa, are you afraid I'll get hurt, or are you afraid that once I have someone else, you won't be needed anymore?"

I didn't contact her for a whole month.

Later she waited a full night outside my company.

When the sky lightened, neither of us apologized. We just held each other and cried for a long time.

Raymond suddenly overturned the champagne tower beside him.

Glasses shattered across the floor.

The ballroom lights went out at the same moment.

In the dark, a group of bodyguards rushed out from a side door, cutting me off from my assistant.

Someone pressed a drug-soaked towel over my nose and mouth.

I lost consciousness in an instant.