Chapter 2 - The Silent Alliance
Arya raised her hand and slapped Tessa fiercely across the cheek.
The sharp sound of the strike echoed loudly across the silent bedroom.
Tessa stumbled backward, her hand flying to her stinging face as tears welled in her eyes.
"You clumsy, worthless peasant," Arya hissed with pure venom.
"Get out of my house right now before I have the guards throw you onto the street."
Tessa slowly got to her feet, keeping her head bowed in fake submission.
She knew that if she revealed what she saw on the phone, she would be murdered instantly.
"I said leave!" Arya screamed, pointing a perfectly manicured finger toward the hallway.
"She stays," a deep, booming voice echoed from the bed.
Arya whipped her head around, staring at her paralyzed fiancé in absolute disbelief.
"Are you honestly defending the help right now?" Arya scoffed, crossing her arms defensively.
Vincent pulled himself upright, his dark eyes burning with a dangerous, lethal intensity.
"This is still my house, and I decide who comes and goes," Vincent stated firmly.
He pointed a heavy, scarred finger toward the open bedroom door.
"Leave the documents on the table and get out of my sight, Arya," he commanded.
Arya looked as though she had just been slapped herself.
She threw the legal papers onto the vanity and stormed out of the room, slamming the door.
The heavy silence returned to the room, broken only by the hum of the medical mattress.
Vincent looked at Tessa, noting the bright red mark blooming on her pale cheek.
"What did you see on her phone?" he asked quietly.
Tessa walked over to his bedside, her hands trembling violently.
"Dominic sent her a message saying the poison will finish the job by midnight," she confessed.
Vincent clenched his jaw so hard that a vein popped along his thick neck.
His own fiancée and his trusted underboss were working together to assassinate him.
They were using the fake pills to ensure his death looked like a tragic medical failure.
"Take those fake pills and flush them down the toilet immediately," Vincent ordered.
Tessa rushed into the adjoining bathroom and destroyed the deadly medication.
She returned to the bedroom, feeling a sudden, terrifying shift in the atmosphere.
"I need someone on the outside who can run a crucial errand for me," Vincent said.
"I am just a maid, Mister Corvino," Tessa whispered fearfully.
"You are the only person left in this world that I can trust," he replied earnestly.
He reached beneath his mattress and pulled out a heavy silver key.
He held it out to her, silently asking her to risk her life for a fallen king.
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Before Tessa could accept the key, a tiny red dot suddenly appeared on Vincent's chest.
Someone outside the mansion was aiming a high-powered sniper rifle through the window.
