Chapter 3

Physical examination. Full panel.

My mind buzzed instantly.

If Ethan Pierce had blood drawn tomorrow, the positive results would come back within forty-eight hours at the earliest.

Given his personality, his first reaction wouldn't be fear — it would be rage. A full investigation.

Investigate the source of infection, investigate everyone around him, investigate finances, investigate the company...

Then the last equity swap funds I hadn't finished transferring would be frozen overnight.

Sixty-eight times of endurance, five years of planning — all reduced to zero.

I couldn't let him get blood drawn tomorrow.

Absolutely not.

At six o'clock the next morning, I stood in the kitchen, a packet of brown powder in my palm.

prune juice concentrate — colorless, tasteless. Mixed into warm milk, it would only cause several hours of severe diarrhea. Completely untraceable.

I placed the milk on Ethan Pierce's designated black coaster.

Seven years. I knew his habits better than he knew them himself.

At exactly seven o'clock, Ethan Pierce came downstairs in his crisp suit and sat down punctually.

But just as his hand touched the cup...

"Ethan!"

Sophie came running in fuzzy slippers, plopping herself into Ethan Pierce's lap, coquettishly snatching the glass of milk.

"I want some too. I'm the lady of this house — everything should go to me first."

She deliberately glanced at me, then tilted her head back and drained the entire glass in one go.

My hand holding the fruit plate froze in mid-air.

Sure enough, by the time they left, Sophie's face had turned pale.

And just as the car got onto the elevated highway, she suddenly clutched her stomach, instantly breaking into a cold sweat.

"Ethan... my stomach hurts so much..."

Ethan Pierce's expression changed immediately. He grabbed her and shouted at the driver: "Turn around! To the nearest hospital!"

Sophie vomited three times. The last time, she was practically semi-conscious, collapsing in Ethan Pierce's arms.

When he carried her rushing into the emergency room, his eyes were red.

And I was summoned by his furious phone call.

"Lydia Lynn, you can't even make a fucking breakfast right? Did you deliberately give her diarrhea!"

The roar on the other end was so loud even the taxi driver glanced over.

When I arrived at the VIP hospital room, I saw Ethan Pierce crouching by Sophie's bedside, carefully tucking in her blanket, his gaze as tender as a different person.

He heard footsteps and shot to his feet.

A glass of cold water came crashing down.

I was knocked to the ground in an instant.

Ice-cold water ran down my hair, face, and neck, soaking the collar of my blouse.

A cut opened on my forehead, blood seeping out.

In front of three nurses and an attending physician, he pointed his finger almost at my forehead: "If it weren't for your dead father's sake, I would've kicked you out long ago!"

My dead father.

He had the nerve to mention my dad?

He'd had the chance to save my father with just three million dollars, but didn't my dad still jump to his death?

I lowered my eyes. Water droplets slid from my lashes, like tears, but they weren't.

"If anything happens to Sophie..." Ethan Pierce gripped my jaw, the force nearly dislocating it: "I'll make you pay with your life."

"I'm sorry... it was my fault. But the medical center... are we still going?"

Wiping the water from my face, I asked timidly.

"Go? Go where!" He waved his hand irritably. "We'll go after Sophie recovers. Reschedule for next week!"

Ethan Pierce turned away from me and sat back on the edge of the bed, intertwining his fingers to hold Sophie's hand again.

That image was so tender, it reminded me of three years ago.

I'd hemorrhaged from a miscarriage in the ER, called him seventeen times, and every single call went unanswered.

I found out later that he'd been celebrating girlfriend number thirty-four's birthday that night.

I was lost in thought when...

Buzz.

Ethan Pierce's phone suddenly exploded with sound.

He frowned and answered, but less than five seconds in, his face turned from iron-blue to deathly pale.

"What did you say?!"

On the other end, I heard it — the finance department's voice trembling: "Mr. Pierce, there's an abnormal flow of three hundred million dollars from the company accounts!"

"The system shows the approver is... Mrs. Pierce."

The air in the hospital room instantly froze.

Ethan Pierce slowly turned his head, those bloodshot eyes nailing themselves onto me.