Chapter 6 - Footsteps in the Hall
Ethan slipped into Clara’s ICU room, his heart aching at the sight of her. Machines beeped rhythmically around the bed. A thick breathing tube was taped to Clara’s mouth, her face drained of all natural color, looking fragile beneath the thin hospital blanket.
He leaned down and kissed her cold forehead, whispering promises into her hair. ""I will protect him, Clara. I won't let her touch either of you again.""
He slipped out of the hospital through the side exit, leaving Lily behind with strict instructions to let no one—especially anyone bearing the Vance name—into Clara’s room without hospital security present. Ethan hailed a cab and gave the driver the address of Clara’s private studio apartment in the city, a sanctuary she had kept even after moving into the Vance mansion.
The apartment was dark when he arrived. Ethan unlocked the deadbolt with his spare key and stepped inside. The familiar scent of lavender and Clara’s paints offered a momentary reprieve from the madness. He hurried to the small writing desk near the bay window, searching for the leather-bound notebook where Clara meticulously tracked her daily medical logs.
He found it hidden beneath a stack of canvas sketches. As he flipped open the pages, notes fell out: receipts from an independent private laboratory downtown, dated just three days ago. Clara had suspected something was wrong with the vitamins Eleanor gave her. She had sent a sample for testing on her own.
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Before Ethan could read the results, the faint sound of floorboards creaking outside the apartment door froze him in place.
Ethan’s blood ran cold. The doorknob slowly began to turn from the outside.
