Chapter 409
“Lidia!” Beatrice shouted. “How can you even call yourself a mother? Your daughter is out of control p>
“You’ve failed-utterly failed. You’re a disgrace as a mother; you should be ashamed p>
Lidia turned on her. “Beatrice, I’ll warn you only once. Bella is Jericho’s daughter. She already carries the authority of the Kane family and the governor himself p>
“If she decides to kill me, no one will stop her. So you’d better make damn sure the doctor you brought here saves Jericho-he’s the only one who can keep Bella under control p>
Beatrice’s face twisted in outrage.
“I’m trying to do what’s best for my brother! How dare you let her threaten me? I should teach my niece how to show respect to her aunt!” She spun on her heel to storm out.
A Kane guard raised his pistol and fired.
The shot cracked, and Beatrice screamed as the bullet tore into her leg. Blood gushed down her skirt, pooling on the floor.
“Holy God! You shot me?!” Beatrice wailed, clutching her leg.
“You’re dead! Do you hear me? You’re all dead!” Never in her life had anyone dared to threaten her like this.
The guard’s voice was cold. “Miss Bella has given the order. No one leaves until Master Kane wakes up. If he dies, every last one of you dies with him p>
“This is insane!” one of the junior doctors barked, his face pale. “I don’t care what you do—I’m leaving p>
He made a move toward the door.
The guard didn’t hesitate. One shot to the head.
The man dropped lifeless to the floor. The room froze in horror.
“Now he can leave,” the guard captain said with chilling calm.
He gestured, and two guards dragged the corpse out by the arms, the body leaving a smear of blood across the marble.
“Only a dead man passes this door. Anyone else want to try p>
All eyes turned, one by one, to Doctor Kevin. The air was thick with fear.
Beatrice hissed, “You’d better cure Jericho Kane. Our lives are in your hands.” Kevin’s lips trembled. “I-I want out. But, I don’t think I can cure Governor Kane.” The guard captain stepped forward, pressing the barrel of his gun against Kevin’s temple.
“Doctor, don’t forget-you stole this chance from Mister Alex. You swore you could heal our master. You’d better do it… or I’ll blow your head off p>
Kevin’s face blanched, his knees shaking.
“I… I am a professor at Oxford. You can’t kill me,” he stammered, clinging to the title as if it could save him.
“If you can’t heal my master,” the guard growled, shoving the barrel harder against his temple, “then you’re already a corpse. One bullet, one body bag—that’s all you’re worth p>
“Doctor Kevin stop talking, heal him now!” Beatrice screamed.
Kevin snapped back, his face twisted in anger. “That wasn’t our agreement p>
Beatrice’s eyes blazed. “Do you want to die here? Heal him now! We’ll talk about the agreement later p>
Lidia’s head whipped around, suspicion flashing in her eyes. “What do you mean, agreement p>
Beatrice faltered, her voice trembling. “There’s no time for that. Let Kevin treat Jericho first. We’ll talk after p>
Kevin barked at his medical team. “Check his vitals. Run the blood again. Move p>
The doctors scrambled, drawing blood, checking monitors, their hands trembling as sweat beaded on their brows.
Kevin stared at the results, his face draining of color.
“This… this can’t be real p>
“What can’t be real?” Beatrice demanded.
“The poison,” Kevin muttered, his voice cracking.
“The active agent shifts every thirty minutes. It mutates into something new each
time. I’ve only ever heard of such a thing in whispers p>
“A toxin that transforms into one hundred and eight variations-no cure, no
antidote. One wrong move and the reaction will explode inside him p>
Kevin staggered back, his face ghost-white, sweat pouring down his temples. “Beatrice… I can’t do this anymore. I’m telling you the truth-I can’t cure him. It’s impossible p>
“For God’s sake, Kevin!” Beatrice screamed, grabbing his coat. “Do your damn job! Our lives depend on this p>
Kevin shouted back, “I can’t! This poison was made to kill without mercy. It was designed to be untreatable p>
“I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve only heard the legend its name whispered like a curse. This is that poison p>
Beatrice’s eyes narrowed with fury. “You’re a professor at Oxford! Even that slum doctor claimed he had a ninety percent chance of saving Jericho p>
Kevin’s temper snapped. His voice thundered through the room.
“Don’t you dare compare me to that lowlife! I came here because you promised me fifty million dollars-not to cure Jericho, but to sabotage anyone who tried p>
“You swore you’d pay me whether I healed him or not-that was our agreement! You also said if Master Kane dies, you’ll seize control of the Kane family and take the governor’s seat for yourself!” s
The words hit the room like a bomb.
“What?” Lidia’s voice cracked, her body shaking as the truth sank in.
Her eyes flooded with rage and betrayal.
She pointed at Beatrice, her voice a scream. “You… you and Kevin! I trusted you!
How dare you conspire to kill my husband p>
“Shut up, Lidia,” Beatrice snapped, her words cutting like a blade.
“You chose Doctor Kevin yourself and drove out that young man. Don’t
you dare put this on us-this disaster is yours. You made the
choice, now bear the risk, dann you p>
s
“Tell me everything, Beatrice,” Lidia demanded, her voice shaking with fury.
Beatrice threw her hands up, her composure breaking.
“What do you want me to say? That Kingston called me? That if I wanted the Vermont governorship, I had to bring Kevin in p>
“That my job was to block some so-called miracle doctor-make sure no one with the title ‘God’s Hand’ got near Jericho p>
“You” Kevin’s face drained of color. “You never told me that. You never said a damn word about Kingston and a doctor with the title ‘God’s Hand p>
Lidia’s mind raced. Memories crashed back.
“That young man who cured Bella… Jericho called him the ‘God’s Hand,’ didn’t he? I remember now-he said it once p>
Kevin’s eyes widened in shock. “Is he the legendary doctor-the one who never failed? No wonder he claimed
a ninety percent chance of curing Master Kane’s poison.” s
“Get him here—if anyone can do it, it’s him. He can save Jericho. He can save all
of us p>
Beatrice’s face lit with sudden, frantic hope. “Yes-call him p>
“It is too late!” One of Kevin’s assistants-Eddie was already holding a syringe,
the needle hovering inches from Jericho’s neck.
“Eddie, what the hell are you doing?” Kevin barked.
Eddie’s hands shook, his eyes red with tears.
“You don’t understand, Kevin. I got a call this morning-an anonymous voice. They’ve taken my wife. My three kids. They told me if Jericho lives, my family dies p>
“They ordered me to kill Jericho if you can’t kill him. And now… now I see Kingston’s shadow in all of this. If Jericho survives, they’ll slaughter my family.” “Don’t do it, Eddie!” Beatrice and Kevin screamed together, their voices colliding in desperation.
The room froze around that single moment-the point where all their lives hung by a thread.
When Jericho dies, no one will be left alive.
Lidia stood rigid, her heart pounding like war drums, but in her chest a cold clarity took hold.
This nightmare was hers.
If only she had listened to Bella.
If only she had chosen Alex.
The doctor from the slums who had saved her daughter. Not the Oxford professor
with his polished name and empty prestige.
She had chosen power.
She had chosen appearances.
And now the price had come due.
One mistake, and the whole world came crashing down, crushing her in the most
merciless, agonizing way imaginable.
There was never a second chance in this world.