Chapter 12 - THE GREEN DRESS RETURNS
Vivian abandoned her car near a train station.
Police believed she had help.
Margaret denied knowing where her daughter had gone.
Daniel told Detective Reed that Vivian maintained a private apartment under a friend’s name.
The apartment was empty.
Inside, officers discovered maps of Emma’s new hospital and photographs taken from across the street.
Vivian had been watching her.
Emma’s delivery was less than two weeks away.
Security increased again.
Detective Reed wanted to move her to a federal protection facility.
Emma agreed.
Before the transfer, she received a call from an unknown number.
Vivian’s voice came through the speaker.
“You destroyed everything.”
Emma motioned to the officer beside her.
The call was immediately traced.
“You pushed me down the stairs,” Emma said.
“You were taking my family away.”
“Your family destroyed itself.”
Vivian laughed bitterly.
“You think the police will protect you?”
“They protected me from your father.”
“My father is finished.”
“And you are running.”
Vivian’s voice changed.
“You don’t understand what it is like to spend your whole life being told that someone else matters more.”
Emma remained silent.
Vivian continued.
“Daniel was the heir.”
“Then his child became the heir.”
“And you walked into our home carrying shares worth more than my entire future.”
“So you tried to kill me?”
“I wanted you gone.”
“Those are not different things.”
The trace showed the call came from the old Sterling mansion.
Police vehicles surrounded the property.
Detective Reed entered with a tactical team.
The mansion appeared empty.
The grand foyer remained exactly as it had been the night Emma fell.
A faint stain marked the place where she landed.
Officers searched room by room.
In Charles’s study, they found the safe open.
Project Eve files had been removed.
A hidden passage led from the study to the basement laboratory.
Vivian stood inside wearing the same emerald-green dress from the night of the fall.
On a table rested the original vial.
Beside it was a small cooler labeled with Emma’s name.
Detective Reed aimed his weapon.
“Step away from the table.”
Vivian held up a remote control.
“If I press this, the room burns.”
Red lights blinked along several chemical containers.
“You will die too,” Reed said.
“So will the evidence.”
“You called Emma because you wanted attention.”
Vivian’s mouth tightened.
“You don’t know me.”
“I know you could have burned this place before we arrived.”
He lowered his weapon slightly.
“But you waited.”
Vivian’s hand trembled.
Reed continued.
“You want someone to understand why you did it.”
“My father used me.”
“Then help us prove it.”
“He said Emma was stealing everything.”
“And you believed him.”
“He promised that if I made her leave, I would control the company.”
Detective Reed took one slow step closer.
“Put down the remote.”
Vivian’s eyes filled with tears.
“After I pushed her, he told me I had failed.”
“Because she survived?”
Vivian nodded.
“He said I was useless.”
Reed extended his hand.
“Do not let him control your final choice.”
For several seconds, Vivian stood completely still.
Then a noise sounded behind the officers.
Thomas Vale, released temporarily to assist investigators, appeared at the entrance to the passage.
He had escaped his escort.
He raised a handgun.
“Press it,” he ordered.
Vivian stared at him.
Thomas aimed at Detective Reed.
Before he could fire, Daniel rushed from the hallway and struck his arm.
The shot hit the ceiling.
Officers tackled Thomas.
The remote fell from Vivian’s hand.
It struck the floor.
A red timer appeared.
Ten seconds.
Vivian screamed.
“I didn’t activate it.”
Detective Reed grabbed the remote.
The countdown continued.
Nine.
Eight.
An officer pulled open the control panel.
Seven.
Six.
Daniel stared at the chemical containers.
“There’s a manual shutdown in the west corridor.”
He ran toward the passage.
Five.
Four.
Emma listened through the police phone line from her hospital room.
Three.
A heavy switch slammed downward.
Two.
The timer stopped.
For one breathless moment, nobody moved.
Then officers placed Vivian in handcuffs.
As she was led from the mansion, she looked back at the staircase.
May you like
“I should have helped her,” she whispered.
But regret had arrived too late to erase what she had done.
