Chapter 2 - The Eavesdropper
The command hit the sterile room like a physical blow.
Charles Voss stepped fully into the doorway, his expensive tailored suit practically radiating authority and menace.
“Security!” Charles barked into the hallway.
Dr. Park stepped between the billionaire’s bed and the angry chairman.
“Mr. Voss, please keep your voice down, the patient is showing significant neurological response,” Dr. Park stated firmly.
Charles sneered, his eyes locking onto Maria with cold disdain.
“He is having an involuntary muscle spasm, Doctor,” Charles dismissed her completely.
“And I will not have the hired help contaminating a sterile intensive care unit.”
Two large security guards in dark suits rushed into the room, grabbing Maria roughly by the arms.
Sophia began to cry, dropping the paper cup and spilling water across the polished floor.
“Please, we were just leaving,” Maria pleaded, pulling her daughter close.
They dragged her out of the room and pushed her forcefully toward the service elevators.
Maria held Sophia tightly, her heart pounding furiously against her ribs.
She didn't understand why the chairman was so aggressively angry about a child offering comfort.
As they waited for the slow service elevator to arrive, Maria noticed a small, slightly ajar door near the stairwell.
It was a private waiting room, designated exclusively for the Whitfield family and corporate executives.
Maria could hear Charles Voss’s voice echoing from inside, speaking in a harsh, urgent whisper.
She pulled Sophia into the shadows of the alcove, pressing her finger to her lips to signal quiet.
“The doctors are saying he might wake up,” a woman’s voice panicked from inside the room.
Maria recognized the voice immediately.
It was Eleanor, Daniel’s younger sister, the woman who had always treated Maria like absolute garbage.
“He is not going to wake up, Eleanor,” Charles Voss replied coldly.
“The authority transfer documents require him to be incapacitated for exactly fourteen days.”
“If he wakes up on day eleven, the entire merger with Vanguard Industries falls apart completely.”
Maria’s blood ran entirely cold.
She realized they were not waiting for Daniel to recover.
They were literally counting the hours until they could steal his company.
“But what if that little girl triggered something?” Eleanor asked, her voice trembling.
“The brain is unpredictable.”
Charles laughed, a dry, humorless sound that chilled Maria to the bone.
“The brain requires oxygen to function, Eleanor,” Charles said smoothly.
“And accidents happen in hospitals every single day, especially during the night shift.”
Maria covered her mouth to muffle a gasp of pure horror.
They were planning to murder Daniel Whitfield tonight.
The service elevator finally chimed, the doors sliding open with a loud ding.
Charles’s voice stopped abruptly in the waiting room.
Heavy footsteps approached the slightly ajar door.
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Maria grabbed Sophia and sprinted into the elevator, hammering the lobby button frantically.
The doors slowly slid shut just as Charles Voss stepped out of the waiting room, his eyes locking directly onto Maria’s terrified face.
