Chapter 10
No one revealed who locked the nursery door.
No one entered.
The poisoning mystery was not resolved.
The confrontation remained inside the cold blue nursery of the Long Island mansion, with gray cloud-painted walls, the white crib, the medical monitor, the unconscious nurse now barely stirring in the armchair, and the unopened bottle sitting untouched like a silent accusation near the crib.
Hunter Higgins stood near the center of the room in her pale-blue robe, holding two-month-old Leo Rossi safely against her chest.
Her face was tearful and frightened.
But her arms did not shake anymore.
Leo rested weakly against her, wrapped in his white blanket, his tiny hand still curled near her heart after finally feeding.
Lorenzo Rossi stood between them and the locked white door, black suit sharp under the red warning light, jaw clenched, eyes fixed on the barrier that had turned his fortress into a trap.
Outside, the unseen woman’s last whisper still hung in the room.
You were never supposed to find out.
Then, later, colder.
You should have let him go.
Lorenzo did not know who she was.
Not yet.
But she knew his house.
She knew the nursery system.
She knew Hunter’s grief.
She knew the baby’s feeding schedule.
And she had been close enough to poison the one place Lorenzo believed protected his son.
Mallory opened her eyes fully now, weak and terrified, staring at the suspicious glass beside the chair.
Hunter glanced at the unopened bottle.
Then at Lorenzo.
“He needs help,” she whispered.
Lorenzo did not look away from the door.
“He’ll get it.”
The monitor beeped steadily enough to keep hope alive, not enough to offer peace.
Lorenzo placed one hand against the locked door, his voice low and dangerous.
“You wanted my son silent.”
Hunter held Leo closer.
The red light flashed across Lorenzo’s face.
“But he fed,” he said. “And now I know.”
Behind him, Hunter closed her eyes over a silent sob.
May you like
In front of him, the locked door stayed shut.
And somewhere beyond it, inside his own mansion, the person who had tried to starve his son was still listening.
