"It's just weird," Charles snaps at Trent Mickle, who flinches slightly at his boss's tone. "Who is she? Where did she come from?""Dr. Evelyn Prism, from Australia," Mickle begins tentatively, wondering how many times they're going to have this conversation.Charles actually picks up a pen and flings it at Mickle's head. Mickle dodges, and the pen harmlessly hits the doorway with a smack."I know all that," Charles roars at Mickle. "But it doesn't make sense! You know as well as I do that the whole thing is fishy. It's rotten. Something is rotten in the state of this mansion, and her name is – supposedly – Dr. Evelyn Prism.""I just don't know what you want me to say, boss," Mickle says helplessly, waving his hands vaguely. "I've looked her up. She doesn't have a big online presence, but that's not surprising, given that she worked in remote locations for her entire career thus far.""There must be something off," Charles says. "Something you can find. Fabricated degrees, reverse-sea
I hang up my date outfit on the back of my office door as soon as I get to the Alpha's mansion that morning. I brought it with me, so that I don't have to go home to change, because obviously I can't risk Marcus knowing where I live.He could put things together too quickly if he really starts looking into who owns the villa, and even him knowing where the villa is would put too many other people at risk. Kent especially. I can't risk that.I'm a little insecure about my outfit choice, which is unlike me. I shuffled through two or three options last night before settling on this one, and it's not like I have a ton of date material in my closet right now, anyway.Yes, I get a pretty good salary here at the mansion, and I will admit that I do love to shop for clothes. It just hasn't occurred to me lately to pick up any date-worthy clothes. I never anticipated I'd be going on a date anytime soon, particularly not a date with Marcus.But I do have some options in my wardrobe, mainly dress
Marcus doesn't question me or seem to disbelieve me. He simply thanks me for the information, then apologetically excuses himself to make a call."I need to talk to my closest ally about this," he says. "Right away. I'll be back as soon as I can, Evelyn. I'm sorry to excuse myself on a date like this – I know it's incredibly rude.""I completely understand," I say, and I do. "This is obviously an exceptional circumstance."Marcus speaks for a moment to the man at the door before slipping outside, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket as he does so. A fresh glass of wine appears in front of me a few moments later.As worried as I am, I'm still having a wonderful evening. I haven't been on a proper date like this…well, ever. Charles was never much for taking me on true dates when we were together. More and more, I wonder what I used to see in him.He's always been such a selfish man, with such an ugly personality. It's amazing that I didn't see it before. Well, I'm wiser now, and tha
It's Friday afternoon, a couple of days later. I'm still glowing in the aftermath of my fantastic date with Marcus, weird little scene with Lydia notwithstanding. I'm still a little angry about that, but it's not anyone's fault – well, except Lydia's – and I certainly don't hold a grown woman's behavior against anybody else.Despite that little hiccup, and despite the gloomy and worried tone that inevitably crept in when Marcus and I discussed some of our concerns around Charles, it was a marvelous evening. I don't know that I've ever felt so taken care of, so listened to, so considered.Well, except the last time I went out with Marcus, that is.I think he might be it, I muse to myself. I don't know how I'm going to reconcile that with the fact that I'm currently parading around as someone else after having faked my own death, but I'm starting to think that this might be fate.This might be it for me. Marcus might be The One.I don't know why I'm so certain of this. I never believed
"What do you think we're looking at, here?" Dr. Madison asks me as we wait for the toxicology report to come in. "Did he accidentally ingest something? Was it a medicine mixup – maybe an accidental overdose? Could it possibly be a suicide attempt?"My face must look uncertain, because she rushes to assure me."I'm not going to talk to the press, I promise," she says. "I'm not even offended to think you were worried about that, because I understand how delicate your position is. I just want to know what you think is going on, because I don't see how this has happened."It's rare for a mentally competent man of his age to accidentally poison himself," she goes on. "That's something I'd expect to see either in a young child, in someone with a learning disability, or in an elderly and confused patient."For a mentally sound man in his late 60s to come into my ER with a poisoning this severe, I have to think of a couple of different likely scenarios. One is a poisoning attempt. Another is
"I still can't believe it," Dr. Madison says a while later. We're reviewing the report together again, obviously after we ordered the necessary treatment to counteract the poison Emmett had been given.It's not certain whether or not he'll pull through, but he has a fighting chance.Digitalis poisoning," Dr. Madison repeats in disbelief for the third time since we first saw the results, peering over my shoulder to scan the report in my hands again. "Foxglove? My god, did they pull that from an Agatha Christie novel? Did they actually expect to get away with this?""I told you, I think he's getting desperate," I murmur, rapidly scanning the report again. "Best case, I think he was hoping that you'd assume that I screwed up – maybe even on purpose – and gave him too much of his digoxin pills. That tracks with me being the one who dispenses his medication."Next best, you'd think it was an accidental overdose – like you said, that you'd conclude he'd gotten confused and taken too much on
"So, how do we approach this?" I ask Dr. Madison and Marcus, looking from one to the other with uncertainty."Well, we have two problems," Marcus says slowly, tapping a finger against his chin. "We need to figure out how to address the police investigation – that's one big problem. We need to find a way to get them to keep this discreet.""How are you going to get the NYPD to keep something like this discreet?" Dr. Madison asks. Marcus flashes her a dazzling smile, and she smiles back, despite the seriousness of our conversation."Through influence," Marcus says. "Our family is a hugely prominent one; there are ways to get police to approach your situation with a great deal of care, when you're a family like ours.""Money and status," I say. Marcus shoots me a rueful grin."Basically, yes," he says. "I'm not saying it's right or fair, because it isn't. However, as you're both well aware, it's absolutely necessary in this case. Other lives besides my father's might be on the line – min
"The first thing we need to do is call Liam," Marcus says, checking his phone. "I called him earlier, so he knows that Father is here at the hospital, but I need to update him. We're going to need his help, both with Jack Darlington and the press."Marcus makes a face and shakes his head, scrolling down his screen."What's wrong?" I ask."Only about the 35,000 missed calls I have from everyone from Mother to Joel's wife to about 16 different news agencies," Marcus sighs. "Damn it, what a mess. All right. Liam first. I'll step out into the hallway – is there a private place to make this call?" He addresses this question to Dr. Madison."I'll show you to the conference room on this floor," she says. "You can make the call in privacy from there."They leave together, and I'm left with the unconscious Alpha. I scoot over closer to his bed and take his hand in mine. It's very cold."I'll see about getting you another blanket or two," I murmur to him, reaching my other hand to sweep his hai