Chapter 2 - The Silent Mastermind
The music in the ballroom abruptly stopped.
Guests murmured in hushed, terrified whispers.
Evelyn backed away, her heels clicking frantically against the marble floor.
She could not escape Arthur's furious glare.
"I do not know what you are talking about," Evelyn stammered weakly.
Her voice trembled, betraying her desperate lie.
Arthur did not break eye contact.
"Do not insult my intelligence, Evelyn," Arthur warned in a low, dangerous tone.
Maya stepped forward, her posture rigid and professional.
She pulled a small sterile vial from her uniform pocket.
Maya knelt carefully next to the shattered crystal.
She used a small dropper to collect a sample of the spilled liquid.
"This needs to go to the lab immediately," Maya instructed the nearest guard.
Two large men in dark suits stepped out from the crowd.
They were Arthur's personal bodyguards.
They moved swiftly to flank Evelyn, blocking any chance of escape.
"Who gave you the vial?" Arthur demanded once more.
Evelyn looked around the room, her eyes darting like a trapped animal.
She realized that none of her high-society friends were coming to her rescue.
Tears of genuine fear welled up in her eyes.
"They told me it was just a sedative," she whispered, her voice breaking.
"They said you just needed to be asleep during the board vote tomorrow."
Arthur's expression darkened even further.
The impending board meeting was supposed to finalize his new charitable trust.
It would effectively lock his entire fortune away from greedy corporate shareholders.
"A sedative in that dosage would have stopped his heart within minutes," Maya corrected coldly.
Evelyn gasped, covering her mouth with her trembling hands.
She had been a pawn in a brutal assassination plot without even realizing it.
"Who is 'they', Evelyn?" Arthur asked, his voice softer now but far more terrifying.
Before she could answer, a loud commotion erupted near the ballroom's main entrance.
A group of men in sharp suits was trying to push past the hotel security.
At the center of the group was Marcus Sterling, Arthur's own Chief Financial Officer.
Marcus looked entirely too calm for a man whose boss had just survived an attempt on his life.
He adjusted his tie and offered a polite, chilling smile.
Maya stood up, her hand subtly resting on the concealed weapon at her hip.
May you like
She took a protective step in front of Arthur.
The real threat had just walked into the room.
