The hallway of the pediatric wing felt like a battlefield. The red emergency lights continued to pulse, casting a rhythmic, bloody glow over Melissa's face. She stood her ground in the nurse's scrubs, but the trembling in her hands betrayed her.
"You think a lockdown can stop a Carter?" Melissa sneered, though her voice lacked its usual icy confidence. "Henry has the board of directors in his pocket. By tomorrow, you'll be the ones trespassing."
Alicia didn't wait for Arthur to respond. She stepped forward, her eyes burning with a mother-like ferocity. She didn't see the billionaire's mistress or the head of marketing; she saw a woman who had dared to touch her brother's door.
"The board of directors isn't here, Melissa," Alicia said, her voice dangerously calm. "I am. And if you don't step away from that glass, I won't need a lawyer to show you what happens when someone threatens my family."
Melissa laughed, a shrill, desperate sound. "What are you going to do, architect? Draw me a diagram?"
In a flash, Alicia moved. She didn't strike her, but she grabbed Melissa's wrist—the one holding the sedative—and twisted it with a strength born of years of carrying heavy blueprints and a lifetime of survival. The syringe clattered to the floor, and Melissa let out a sharp cry of shock.
"That's for Léo," Alicia whispered, her face inches from Melissa's. "Now, get out of this hospital before I call the police for attempted kidnapping."
"The police?" Melissa turned to Arthur, looking for a shred of the man who used to value corporate silence. "Arthur, tell her! You can't involve the police. Think of the stock price! Think of your father's reputation!"
Arthur stepped into the light, looking down at Melissa as if she were a stain on his perfectly tailored life. "I've spent ten years thinking about my father's reputation, Melissa. It's a weight I'm done carrying. And as for the stock price..." He held up his phone, showing a sent email. "I've just called an emergency meeting of the shareholders. I've submitted the logs from the docks. The scandal isn't coming, Melissa. It's already here."
Melissa's face went pale. The "Crown" she had fought so hard to join—the Carter name—was crumbling beneath her feet.
"You're destroying yourself!" Melissa screamed as two hospital security guards finally reached them, grabbing her by the arms. "You'll be a nobody, Arthur! A nobody with a peasant girl!"
"Then I'll be the happiest nobody in this city," Arthur replied, not even glancing back as the guards dragged her toward the service elevator.
Arthur turned to Alicia. The fire in her eyes was still there, but her hands were finally starting to shake. He didn't say a word; he simply pulled her into his chest, shielding her from the flashing red lights.
Inside the room, Léo stirred. He rubbed his eyes and looked through the glass, seeing his sister and the "superhero" holding each other. He gave a small, tired wave.
"He's safe, Alicia," Arthur whispered into her hair. "But the war is just beginning. My father won't go quietly."
"Let him come," Alicia said, pulling back and looking at the child who was her whole world. "We have a foundation he can't break."