Chapter 3

I lunged for the broken injector, but Sophia kicked both pieces into a bucket of dirty water.

"It's broken," she said lightly. "What does it matter if there's one less little thief?"

She turned to the guards. "Bring me a slice of hazelnut cake from the restaurant."

My blood went cold.

"You know that could kill him."

"Then we'll see how lucky he is."

One guard went pale. "Miss Sophia, someone could die."

"Adam said I could deal with people however I wanted." She took out her phone. "I'll ask him now if you don't believe me."

While the call rang, she turned her back. I found the smartwatch beneath Lucas's sleeve and pressed his emergency contact.

Adam's voice came through her phone on speaker. "You're the lady of the hotel. They're just a couple of broke scammers. Deal with them however you want."

Sophia immediately made her voice sound aggrieved. "But they called people to threaten me. Come back quickly."

Lucas lowered his mouth to the watch. "Grandpa, we're at Dad's hotel. The bad woman wants to kill me."

I quickly gave William the hotel's name and our floor.

He said only, "Hold on. My people are already in the city."

Sophia turned, saw the watch, snatched it away, and threw it against the wall.

A guard entered with a slice of cake covered in crushed hazelnuts.

I stood in front of Lucas. "Before you touch him, think carefully. Deliberately feeding someone an allergen is not a prank. It's attempted murder."

"Hold her."

Two guards pinned my arms behind me. Sophia broke off a large piece of cake, forced it into Lucas's mouth, and clamped her hand over his lips so he could not spit it out.

Lucas struggled and shook his head. Tears ran down his cheeks.

"Spit it out, Lucas!"

As soon as he swallowed, red welts spread across his face. Seconds later, he began gasping, a harsh whistle coming from his throat.

Sophia released him.

Lucas dropped to his knees, clawing at his neck, unable to draw breath.

"Help him!" I fought with all my strength. "She destroyed his injector. Call an ambulance!"

Sophia stepped back but still insisted, "He's pretending."

Heavy impacts sounded in the corridor.

"William Harrison's team! Move!"

The storage-room door burst open. Several bodyguards rushed in, followed by a doctor carrying an emergency bag.

The hotel guards tried to stop them. The head bodyguard showed them a police incident number. "The police are on their way. Interfere with emergency treatment again, and every one of you will be named in the report."

They finally let go of me.

Sophia tried to block the doctor, shouting that it was her hotel. A bodyguard pulled her aside.

"Severe hazelnut allergy," I told the doctor. "He swallowed it less than three minutes ago. His epinephrine injector was destroyed."

The doctor knelt beside Lucas, injected epinephrine, and fitted an oxygen mask over his face.

After several long seconds, Lucas finally drew a breath.

My legs gave way. I knelt beside the stretcher and held his hand.

"Mom," he whispered.

"I'm here. I'm not leaving."

The doctor said, "He's only temporarily stable. He needs hospital monitoring for a second reaction. We have to move now."

They pushed the stretcher out of the storage room. The elevator doors opened just as we reached the corridor.

Adam strode out.

Sophia immediately ran toward him, crying. "Darling, they bullied me and tried to hurt our baby!"

Adam did not look at the child on the stretcher.

He stepped past Lucas, pulled Sophia into his arms, and glared at everyone around him.

"Who hurt my woman and my baby?"