Chapter 8 - Resurrected in Crimson
The digital clock on the medical bay ceiling blinked 9:45 AM when Maddie snapped back into consciousness.
Air rushed into her lungs like a gale through an open window. Her heart pounded violently against her ribs, but the paralyzing heaviness in her limbs was gone, replaced by a raw, vibrating clarity. Dr. Lin stood nearby, adjusting an IV drip containing high-dose charcoal flushes and atropine.
""She’s stable,"" Dr. Lin said, exhaling in disbelief. ""Another twenty minutes without that counter-agent and her heart would have arrested.""
Sitting in the leather chair beside the bed, still dressed in his pristine black suit, was Christian Kane. He hadn't slept a minute. The shadows beneath his slate eyes only made him look more lethal.
""You have two hours, Mrs. Kane,"" Christian said softly, standing up. ""Are we going to the emergency ward, or are we going to war?""
Maddie ripped the IV catheter from the back of her hand, ignoring the tiny bead of blood that welled on her skin. ""Get me out of this bed.""
Thirty minutes later, the transformation was complete. The ruined gold dress from the pool had been incinerated. In its place, Christian's private stylist had delivered a bespoke crimson-red power suit tailored with razor-sharp shoulders and wide-leg trousers. Her blonde hair, previously drenched and ruined, was swept back into a sleek, severe low bun. A bold slash of blood-red lipstick matched the cut of her lapels.
In her ears hung two flawless teardrop pearls—her mother's jewelry, recovered from the family safe by Christian's operatives at dawn.
""You look terrifying,"" Christian murmured, stepping beside her in front of the full-length mirror. He offered his arm.
""Good,"" Maddie said, adjusting the cuffs of her silk blouse. ""Bradley spent his entire life treating me like an ornament. It’s time he learned that ornaments can be forged out of razor wire.""
As they boarded the private armored Maybach waiting in the subterranean garage, Christian handed her a sleek leather folder.
""Here is the forensic report from Pier 4,"" he said as the car sped up the ramp. ""Arthur survived with two fractured ribs. The men who attacked him were paid directly from Bradley’s shell company in the Cayman Islands. And that's not all.""
Maddie opened the folder. Inside was a high-resolution photograph of the mysterious woman from the video Bradley was clinking glasses with.
May you like
Maddie’s breath hitched. ""No... that's impossible.""
""It's very possible,"" Christian said darkly. ""Your stepmother, Victoria Vance, didn't stay in Paris to mourn your father. She’s been in town for a week—and she’s the one who signed off on the assassination.""
