Chapter 7

Grace Keller POV:

Julian's footsteps faded down the hall, leaving a silence that was more profound than any noise. For a moment, I allowed myself to feel the phantom weight of his presence, the ghost of the man I once loved. Then, I let it go. He was a storm I had weathered, and now, the sky was clearing.

He was stunned by my command, I could tell. He was used to me being pliant, forgiving. His face, a mask of confusion and wounded pride, was almost comical. He accused me of being ungrateful, of not understanding the "pressure" he was under. He insisted he would not visit me again until I had "come to my senses" and learned to be properly sorry for the trouble I had caused. Then he stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

I let out a small, cold laugh and closed my eyes. Let him think what he wanted. His opinions were less than dust to me now.

A few days later, under the cover of a pre-dawn gloom, I checked myself out of the hospital. No farewells, no forwarding address. I was a ghost, slipping through the cracks of the life he had built around me.

My first stop was the private care facility where Josephine had moved my family. Bryan was in physical therapy, his face tight with concentration as he learned to walk again. But he smiled when he saw me, a real, genuine smile that reached his eyes.

My father was in a quiet, sunlit room. He was still in a coma, but his condition was stable. I went to his bedside, my heart aching with a familiar sorrow.

As I reached for his hand, I froze. A figure stood in the corner of the room, partially obscured by a privacy screen. They were holding a syringe, their hand hovering over my father's IV line.

My blood ran cold. I didn't scream. I didn't hesitate. I moved.

With a speed born of pure adrenaline, I grabbed a heavy water pitcher from the bedside table and lunged. "Get away from him!" I roared, bringing the pitcher down with all my strength.

The figure cried out and stumbled back into the light.

It was Fabiola.

Her eyes were wide with shock and fury. In her hand, the syringe glittered menacingly. A clear liquid-potassium chloride, I would later learn, enough to stop a heart instantly-dripped from the needle onto the pristine floor.

"You," I breathed, my voice trembling with a rage so pure it was almost sublime.

For a moment, we just stared at each other. Then, the dam of my control broke. I lunged at her, my hands finding her throat. The satisfaction of feeling her frail bones under my fingers was dark and intoxicating.

"You tried to kill him," I snarled, shaking her like a rag doll. "You evil, twisted bitch."

She clawed at my hands, her face turning a blotchy red. "He... deserved it!" she choked out. "You both do! Ruining my reputation! Julian is mine! He was always supposed to be mine!"

I slammed her against the wall. "He can have you," I spat. "You two parasites deserve each other."

Suddenly, the door flew open. "Grace! What the hell are you doing?"

Julian stood there, his face a thundercloud. Fabiola, ever the actress, immediately went limp in my grasp, sobbing hysterically.

"Julian, thank God!" she cried. "She tried to kill me! She's insane!"

Julian ripped me away from her, his grip like iron on my arms. "Have you lost your mind?" he roared in my face.

"She was trying to murder my father!" I screamed, pointing a shaking finger at the syringe on the floor. "Look! The proof is right there!"

Julian's gaze flickered to the syringe, then back to Fabiola's tear-streaked, innocent-looking face. He didn't want to believe it. He couldn't. Admitting she was a monster meant admitting what he had become in his blind devotion to her.

"It's for my migraines," Fabiola sobbed, a brilliant, desperate lie. "A special vitamin cocktail. I was just going to sit with him, and she attacked me!"

Julian's rage, which had momentarily faltered, returned with a vengeance, all of it directed at me. "You are out of control, Grace."

"You are a fool, Julian," I said, my voice dripping with scorn. "A blind, pathetic fool."

I refused to apologize. I demanded he look at the evidence, that he question the nurses. I dared him to punish me. "What will it be this time, Julian? The cellar? Another little allergic reaction? Or will you just have your goons break the rest of my bones?"

Fabiola, seeing her grip on him was absolute, stepped in. "Julian, darling, don't be angry," she said sweetly, placing a hand on his arm. "She's not well. All this stress... it's clearly affected her mind. Maybe she needs professional help. A good psychiatrist. Someplace quiet, where she can rest and get better."

The suggestion hung in the air, sinister and cold.

Julian looked at me, his eyes hard. "That's a good idea."

My heart stopped.

"Take her," he said to his guards.

They dragged me from the room, my feet scrabbling for purchase on the polished floor. The last thing I saw was Fabiola smiling at Julian, her victory complete.