Chapter 172
No.1
"Call an ambulance!" August's roar tore through the concrete stairwell, raw and frantic. "Get the medics in here now!"
He didn't look up. His large hands were stained crimson, pressing desperately against the wound on Allena's head. The bodyguards scrambled up the stairs, barking orders into their radios.
Elisa remained pressed against the cold wall. Her lower back throbbed with a sickening,rhythmic pulse. She watched August cradle Allena. She watched the absolute panic in his broad shoulders.
He never once glanced back to see if his violent shove had hurt her.
Within minutes, the wail of sirens pierced the thick walls of the building. EMTs burst through the fire doors, carrying a rigid backboard and trauma bags.They swarmed Allena, shouting medical jargon,their boots slipping slightly in the blood.
August was forced to step back. He stood rigid, his chest heaving, his eyes tracking every movement the medics made.
As they strapped Allena to the board and lifted her,August finally turned his head. His gaze locked onto Elisa. The hatred in his eyes was so dense it felt like a physical weight pressing down on her chest. He didn't speak. He didn't need to. The promise of total destruction was written clearly in the tight line of his jaw.
He turned and followed the stretcher out the door,leaving Elisa and Meredith alone in the dim stairwvell.
Meredith dropped her hands from her face. The fake tears instantly vanished. She dabbed at the bleeding scratches on her cheek with a silk handkerchief, her eyes burning with cold fury. She gave Elisa a cold,triumphant smirk, adjusted her Chanel jacket, and walked out without a word.
No.2
Elisa stood alone in the silence. Her hands were trembling slightly. She forced herself to take a deep,restricted breath against the rigid foam of her back brace. She pushed off the wall and began the agonizingly slow walk to the underground parking
garage.
The drive to the Long Island safe house was a blur of physical agony. Every bump in the road sent a jolt of fire up her spine. When she finally pushed open the heavy oak door, the world swam in a gray haze at the edge of her vision. She tasted blood where she'd bitten through her lip to keep from screaming at every pothole on the interstate.
She dropped her keys on the console table and walked stiffly to the kitchen. She dry-swallowed two heavy prescription painkillers, her hands gripping the edge of the marble counter until her knuckles turned white.
She walked to the living room and opened her laptop.
The internet was already on fire.
Allena's PR team, funded by August through Devon Browning's firm, had moved with terrifying speed.The official Vanguard Medical Twitter account had released a statement ten minutes ago.
Dr. Allena Mills has suffered a severe, malicious physical attack at the Chambers Group headquarters. She is currently in critical condition
with severe head trauma. Due to this tragic act of violence, the FDA approval phase for the Vanguard-JHU joint initiative will be postponed indefinitely.We ask for prayers for her recovery and demand justice against her attacker.
No.3
Elisa stared at the screen. A harsh, humorless laugh scraped its way out of her throat.
It was brilliant in its evil. Allena's skull was cracked,yes, but the timing was too perfect. Allena had been failing to produce the core code for the FDA review.This "attack" gave her the uItimate, unquestionable excuse to delay the project while simultaneously destroying Elisa's reputation.
Her encrypted phone vibrated violently against the desk.It was Jewel.
Elisa hit the answer button. "Tell me."
"They leaked it," Jewel's voice was tight with rage and panic. "The documentary crew's footage.Someone got to the raw files before I could completely wipe the local servers. They edited it,Elisa."
"Show me," Elisa demanded.
A link popped up in her messages. Elisa clicked it.
It was a video currently trending at number one on Twitter. The footage had been masterfully sliced.It showed Elisa in the hallway two days ago, reaching out as if to grab August's arm. Then it abruptly cut to Allena appearing around the corner, screaming in terror. The context of Elisa falling and August catching her was completely erased.
The caption below the video read: Aethel's 'genius'architect is nothing but a deranged stalker.Sources confirm she is the mole leaking Vanguard's secrets.Today, she tried to kill Dr. Mills.
No.4
"They are suing me, Elisa," Jewel said, her voice shaking. "Devon's lawyers just served my production company with a breach of contract and gross negligence lawsuit. They are asking for twenty million dollars. They are trying to bankrupt me to silence me."
Elisa's eyes turned to chips of ice. The physical pain in her back faded, replaced by a cold, absolute clarity.
They were trying to isolate her. They were trying to
destroy her allies.
"Breathe, Jewel," Elisa said, her voice a low, steady hum of pure authority. "They want us to hide.They want us to panic. We are not going to give them the satisfaction."
"What are we going to do?" Jewel asked.
"We are going to the hospital," Elisa said. "If they want a media circus, I will give them the main event."③
Elisa closed the laptop. She walked to the hall closet.She bypassed her comfortable sweaters and pulled out a sharply tailored, dark charcoal trench coat. The structured wool perfectly concealed the bulky outline of her spinal brace. She slipped it on, tying the belt tightly around her waist. She looked like a soldier strapping on armor.
Forty minutes later, Elisa's Porsche pulled up to the curb outside Mount Sinai Hospital. Jewel was already waiting by the entrance, looking pale but determined.
No.5
The hospital's main plaza was a war zone.
Dozens of news vans were parked haphazardly.Massive satellite dishes pointed toward the sky. A
sea of reporters, cameramen, and paparazzi choked the entrance, waiting for any scrap of news about the billionaire's injured fiancée.
Elisa stepped out of the car. The cold night wind whipped the hem of her trench coat.
A paparazzi stringer near the edge of the crowd turned his head. He saw the dark coat. He saw the face that had been plastered all over Twitter for the last two hours.
"It's her!" the man screamed, pointing his heavy camera directly at Elisa. "It's the attacker!"
The entire crowd shifted like a massive,multi-headed beast. Sixty pairs of eyes locked onto Elisa.
Then, the stampede began.
They surged forward, a tidal wave of flashing lights and shoving bodies. The hospital security guards tried to form a line, but they were instantly swallowed by the aggressive mob.
No.6
Microphones bearing the logos of every major network were thrust violently into Elisa's face,stopping inches from her nose.
"Elisa! Did you push her because August is leaving you?"
"Are you facing attempted murder charges?"
"Did you leak the Vanguard data?"
The questions were screamed at her, overlapping into a deafening roar of hostility. The camera flashes were blinding, a continuous strobe light of pure aggression.
Jewel stepped in front of Elisa, using her body to push back a cameraman who was getting too close."Back off! Give her some space!" Jewel yelled.
Someone in the crowd shoved Jewel hard from behind.Jewel stumbled, crashing back into Elisa.
The impact drove Elisa's spine against the rigid carbon fiber of her brace. A sickening jolt of pain radiated through her pelvis, and black spots danced in her vision.
But she did not bend. She did not flinch.
No.7
Elisa reached out and gently moved Jewel to the side. She stood perfectly straight. She slowly swept her cold, dead eyes over the mob of screaming
reporters. The sheer, freezing intensity of her stare made the front row of journalists instinctively take a half-step back.
She didn't offer a single word of defense. She didn't covér her face.
Elisa raised her hand, physically pushing a microphone out of her path. With slow, deliberate,and agonizing steps, she walked directly into the center of the hostile crowd, heading straight for the VIP elevators.