Chapter 5 - THE POISONED CANDY"What is the meaning of this, brother?" Lucas held his hands up, chuckling nervously. "I was only offering the child a piece of chocolate as a reward."
Alejandro didn't answer. He signaled his personal doctor, who immediately knelt down, collected the crushed pieces of candy, and performed a rapid chemical strip test from his kit.
Less than thirty seconds later, the doctor looked up, his face pale with shock. "Mr. Moretti… the filling of this candy contains concentrated peanut oil extract. Given the child’s severe allergy, a single lick would have closed her airway completely within three minutes."
The air in the hallway turned to ice.
The cruelty was absolute. The killer wasn't just trying to eliminate a witness; he was trying to use Emma's known allergy to frame her death as a tragic "accidental ingestion."
Lucas maintained his composure, clicking his tongue in dismay. "Goodness, how could I have known she was allergic to peanuts? It was just a standard hazelnut chocolate I brought back from Italy. Are you accusing your own brother, Alejandro?"
"I haven't said a word accusing you, Lucas," Alejandro stepped closer, stopping mere inches from his brother's face. "But you seem suspiciously aware of what this child is vulnerable to."
Lucas let out a cold laugh. "You suspect everyone now that you've narrowly escaped death. But remember, Alejandro… I am not the only one in this family who wears the hawk signet ring."
Alejandro’s expression darkened. It was true. The hawk signet ring was not unique to Lucas. Three cousins and two nephews on the board also wore them.
At that moment, Captain Vargas ran over, whispering urgently into Alejandro’s ear: "Sir… the physical backup drive in your study safe… someone just pulled it from the server five minutes ago."
Alejandro clenched his fists. The traitor was moving fast, operating from within the inner walls.
"Take Elena and Emma to the panic room on the third floor," Alejandro ordered sharply. "Lock down the entire floor."
Maids and guards moved to escort them. But just as Elena took her first step down the stone service stairs to gather their belongings, a horrifying sound echoed through the stairwell.
AAAHHH!
A violent scream tore through the air. Someone had slicked the top stone step with clear lubricant. Elena lost her footing, tumbling headover-heels down the steep stone staircase, landing motionless at the bottom in a pool of blood, her left leg bent at a sickening angle.
"MAMA!" Emma shrieked, preparing to leap down after her.
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Alejandro reacted instantly. He scooped Emma up into his arms with one hand, pulling a suppressed pistol from his jacket with the other, pointing the barrel straight into the pitch-black shadows of the lower corridor.
The enemy was no longer hiding in the shadows. The open hunt had begun.
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