THE BLOODLINE BETRAYAL AND THE WIFE'S LETHAL PRESCRIPTION
The Pacific Ocean hurled itself violently against the jagged cliffs of Monterey, California, while a torrential thunderstorm battered the glass walls of Clara Vance’s twenty-million-dollar estate. Clara, thirty-five, the brilliant CEO of a biotech empire, stood in the dark hallway of her own home, listening to the rhythmic crashing of the waves. But it wasn't the ocean that made her blood run cold. It was the sound coming from her master bedroom.
For the past three months, Clara had been supposedly battling an aggressive, terminal stage of pancreatic cancer. She had grown pale, weak, and bedridden, leaving her handsome husband, Julian, to manage her finances, and her twenty-two-year-old sister, Lily, to act as her "devoted caregiver."
Clara wasn't supposed to be walking right now. She was supposed to be sedated in the guest wing.
Moving like a shadow, Clara approached the master suite. The door was slightly ajar. Through the crack, the warm glow of the fireplace illuminated the massive four-poster bed.
Tangled in Clara’s imported silk sheets were two figures. Julian, the man who had sworn to love Clara until death parted them, was passionately kissing Lily, the sister Clara had practically raised and funded through her entire life.
Clara pushed the door open. It made no sound.
"How much longer, Julian?" Lily whined softly, tracing a finger down his chest. "I’m so tired of sneaking around. Playing the crying sister is exhausting. I want to travel. I want to buy the yacht."
Julian kissed her forehead, a greedy, sinister smile playing on his lips. "The doctor said she only has a few weeks left, baby. Her body is completely shutting down. Once she's gone, the biotech company, this estate, the offshore accounts... it all defaults to me. And then, it’s just you and me. Kings of the world."
Clara reached to the wall and hit the master switch.
Blinding, clinical overhead lights flooded the room instantly. Julian violently flinched, shielding his eyes. When his vision cleared and he saw Clara standing at the foot of the bed—not frail, not hunched over, but standing tall in a sharp black silk robe with eyes like frozen daggers—his heart completely stopped.
"Clara!" Julian gasped, scrambling backward against the headboard, his face turning a sickening shade of grey. "What... what are you doing out of bed? You should be resting!"
Lily blinked against the harsh light. But when she saw her older sister, she didn't scream or beg for forgiveness. The spoiled, arrogant girl simply sighed, pulled the white sheet over her chest, and rolled her eyes.
"Oh, stop staring at us like a dying martyr, Clara," Lily sneered, her voice dripping with venomous entitlement. "It was going to happen eventually. Julian has loved me for over a year. I'm younger. I'm healthier. You're practically a ghost already. Why make a scene? Just go back to your room and let nature take its course."
Julian looked at Lily in horror. "Shut up, Lily! Clara, please, it's just the stress of your illness—"
"My illness," Clara interrupted, her voice entirely devoid of emotion. It was smooth, cold, and utterly terrifying. She slowly walked over to the mahogany nightstand.
"Yes, your illness!" Julian cried, fake tears forming. "You're confused, Clara! You're dying!"
Clara reached into her pocket and pulled out a thick, sealed medical folder. She tossed it onto the bed, right onto Julian’s lap.
"Open it," Clara commanded.
Julian’s trembling hands broke the seal. He pulled out the documents. He read the first line, and his breathing abruptly stopped. His eyes widened in pure, unadulterated terror.
"The tumors... the scans..." Julian whispered, looking up at her as if she were the devil himself. "They're... clear? You're perfectly healthy?"
"I don't have cancer, Julian," Clara said, a lethal smile curling on her lips. "I never did. I paid the chief of oncology—who happens to be a board member of my company—to fake the diagnosis. I’ve known you were sleeping with my sister for six months. But I needed to know exactly how far you two parasites would go if you thought the inheritance was within reach."
Lily sat up, her arrogant sneer faltering. "You... you faked it? You psycho! We can sue you for emotional distress!"
"You won't be suing anyone, Lily," Clara said, reaching into her other pocket. She pulled out a small, clear glass vial containing a bluish liquid. She held it up to the light.
Julian let out a guttural, pathetic whimper, burying his face in his hands.
"You see, Lily," Clara whispered, stepping closer to the bed. "While you were busy sleeping with my husband, my husband was busy securing his future. I tested the 'special herbal tea' he has been feeding me every night. The tea that made me weak. The tea that made me vomit."
Lily looked at Julian, horrified. "Julian... what did you do?"
"It’s arsenic, laced with liquid antifreeze," Clara stated coldly. "A slow, untraceable poison. Or at least, Julian thought it was untraceable. But I haven't swallowed a single drop in three weeks. Instead, I collected it. I handed it to a private lab."
Julian fell off the bed, crashing onto his knees on the hardwood floor, weeping uncontrollably. "Clara, I'm sorry! I was out of my mind! Please, I love you!"
"Attempted murder is a non-bailable offense in this state, Julian," Clara said, checking her diamond watch.
May you like
Right on cue, the violent storm outside was pierced by the wail of sirens. Intense red and blue lights began to flash against the floor-to-ceiling glass windows of the bedroom, illuminating the sheer terror on the cheating couple's faces.
"I packed your bags," Clara looked down at her sister, whose face was now a mask of absolute despair. "But you won't be needing them where you're going. Have a lovely honeymoon behind bars."
