“Lock the door.”
Those were the first words Julian Vance had spoken in five days.
Elena Miller stared at him, trembling, one hand pressed against her mouth. The man the entire city believed was trapped in a coma had just opened his eyes—and she was the only person in the room who knew.
“Mr. Vance?” she whispered. “You’re awake?”
Julian nodded slowly.
“Not another word. Not until that door is locked.”
Elena hurried across the room and turned the lock. Then she checked the hallway through the narrow glass panel before returning to his bedside.
“What happened to you?” she asked. “Why are you pretending to be unconscious?”
“Someone wants me dead.”
His voice was weak, but his eyes were sharp.
“And I think I know who.”
Elena swallowed hard.
“Your fiancée?”
Julian didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he reached for her wrist.
“What exactly did you hear?”
Elena took a shaky breath.
“Yesterday afternoon, Miss Chloe was speaking to someone on the phone outside your room. She thought nobody could hear her because the nurses were at the station.”
“What did she say?”
“She said the money would be released once you were officially declared dead. Then she mentioned Friday.”
Julian felt his stomach tighten.
Friday.
The deadline wasn’t random. His lawyers had been preparing a major financial restructuring that would transfer control of several businesses into a new trust. The documents required his authorization, and Chloe had been pressuring him to sign them for weeks.
He had refused.
Now his car’s brakes had been sabotaged, his driver was dead, and his fiancée was counting down the days until he stopped breathing.
“Did she mention anyone else?” he asked.
Elena hesitated.
“Yes. A man named Anthony.”
Julian closed his eyes for a moment.
His cousin.
The man who had stood beside his hospital bed, pretending to mourn him.
Anthony had grown up alongside Julian. They had shared holidays, family celebrations, and years of business dealings. Julian had even trusted him with sensitive information about the family company.
If Anthony was involved, this wasn’t merely a betrayal of love.
It was a conspiracy reaching into the heart of his business empire.
“Listen carefully,” Julian said. “You must leave this room as if nothing happened. Don’t tell Chloe I’m awake. Don’t tell Anthony. Don’t tell anyone.”
Elena nodded.
“What should I do?”
“Find my personal attorney, Daniel Brooks. Tell him you have information about the accident. But don’t use the hospital phone, and don’t let anyone follow you.”
She looked frightened.
“What if they discover the truth before I return?”
“Then don’t return.”
Julian released her wrist.
“Your safety comes first.”
Elena stood silently for a moment before reaching for the cleaning cart.
Then she paused.
“There is something else.”
Julian looked at her.
“Chloe wasn’t the only person who visited you after midnight. Someone came here wearing a doctor’s coat. I didn’t recognize him, and he wasn’t on the list of physicians assigned to this floor.”
“When?”
“Two nights ago. He stayed for less than three minutes.”
Julian’s expression hardened.
“Did he touch anything?”
“He checked your IV line. At least, that’s what it looked like.”
The room seemed to shrink around them.
Julian remembered the strange metallic taste he had experienced before losing consciousness after the crash. At the time, he had assumed it was medication.
Now he wasn’t so sure.
“Did you see his face?”
“Only briefly. But I remember something.”
“What?”
“He had a small scar near his left ear. And when he left, he spoke to someone in the hallway.”
“Who?”
Elena shook her head.
“I couldn’t see.”
Julian stared toward the closed door.
Someone had access to his room. Someone could impersonate medical personnel. And someone had apparently been willing to take advantage of his condition to finish what the crash had started.
He needed evidence.
And he needed it before Friday.
Twenty minutes later, Elena left the room pushing her cleaning cart.
Julian remained motionless.
The door opened once.
A nurse entered, checked his monitors, adjusted his blanket, and left.
Then came another visitor.
Anthony.
Julian recognized his cousin’s expensive cologne before hearing his voice.
“Well, old friend,” Anthony murmured, pulling a chair beside the bed. “This is taking longer than expected.”
Julian kept his breathing steady.
Anthony sighed.
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