Chapter 5 - The Frame Job
The air in the dining room turned instantly to ice.
Nora immediately whimpered, sliding off her chair and hiding behind Maren’s skirts. Aria grabbed Maren’s hand, looking terrified by Victor’s booming voice.
Maren stood up slowly, keeping her body between the guards and the children. "That is a complete lie. I haven't touched a tablet or sent an email since I moved into the east wing."
"Search her quarters!" Victor commanded the guards, his voice cold and triumphant. "You'll find the encrypted drive she used. I warned you, Damian! Bringing an unvetted maid into the core of your estate was a massive security risk! She was planted here by the Moretti syndicate!"
Damian didn't move. He remained kneeling beside Aria’s chair, but his presence seemed to expand, filling the room with an suffocating, lethal pressure.
Slowly, Damian stood up. He was taller than Victor, broader, and infinitely more dangerous.
"You brought guards into my daughter’s dining room, Victor," Damian said, his voice terrifyingly quiet, like a blade slipping out of a sheath. "And you shouted in front of my child."
Victor faltered slightly, taking a half-step back, but recovered his composure quickly. "Damian, I am protecting your empire! The Morettis have been looking for a way into this estate for years! Look at the files! She copied your private banking credentials and the schematics to our warehouse in the docks!"
One of the guards rushed back into the dining room, holding a small silver USB drive and a dark velvet pouch. "Mr. Kane! We found these hidden inside the air vent in Mrs. Doyle’s bedroom!"
Victor took the silver drive, holding it up like a trophy. "Proof. She’s a spy, Damian. Have Leo take her to the basement for interrogation immediately."
Maren felt her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. She looked at Damian, her hazel eyes steady despite the terror rushing through her veins.
"I didn't do this, Damian," Maren said softly, using his first name for the very first time. "I came here to save your daughter. I would never harm her or bringing danger to this home."
Damian looked at Maren. He looked at her eyes—clear, honest, unfrightened by his power, fiercely protective of the children.
Then he looked at Victor.
For nineteen years, Victor Kane had been his right hand. But Damian hadn't survived two decades at the top of Chicago’s underworld by being blind. He had noticed how Victor’s jaw had clenched every time Aria made progress over the last three days. He had noticed how eager Victor was to eliminate Maren the moment Dr. Vance was dismissed.
"Leo," Damian called out calmly.
Leo stepped into the room from the side hallway, holding his phone in his hand. He gave Damian a single, subtle nod. The independent lab report on the bitter tea had just arrived.
"Take Mrs. Doyle and the children upstairs to my private master suite," Damian ordered. "Lock the secondary doors. Leave four men outside."
Victor’s eyes widened in disbelief. "Damian! What are you doing?! She’s the traitor! She needs to be eliminated!"
Damian turned his gaze back onto Victor—a look of such absolute, predatory coldness that Victor’s breath hitched in his throat.
"Mrs. Doyle isn't going anywhere, Victor," Damian whispered smoothly. "Because while you were searching her vents for USB drives... Leo was searching your private office in the city."
Victor’s face went ghastly white. The color drained from his lips as if he had been struck by lightning.
"What... what are you talking about?" Victor stammered, his confident demeanor cracking completely.
Damian walked over to the table, picking up the small velvet pouch the guard had found in Maren’s room. He untied the drawstring and tipped it over.
Out spilled a small glass bottle filled with a clear, odorless liquid labeled with a chemical formula.
"You planted this in her room, didn't you, Victor?" Damian said softly, picking up the vial. "Thallium nitrate. The exact heavy metal found in my daughter’s blood work."
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Victor backed away toward the door, his eyes darting frantically toward his two guards. "Damian... listen to me... it’s a setup—"
"You didn't just try to frame her, Victor," Damian growled, his voice breaking into a thunderous rage that shook the chandelier above. "You poisoned my six-year-old baby for eight months!"
