Chapter 10 - THE DOCTOR’S CONFESSION
Dr. Price was under guard at a private hospital.
His injuries were serious but stable.
Leo wanted Beatrice nowhere near him.
Beatrice went anyway.
“You are exhausting.”
Leo told her in the elevator.
“So I’ve heard.”
“You could have stayed with Lily.”
“Mateo is with her.”
“That is not the point.”
“What is the point?”
“That someone tried to kill this man.”
Beatrice looked at him.
“Then maybe we should hear what he knows before they try again.”
Leo stared at her.
“You say things like you have nine lives.”
“I work in a mansion with forty-three stairs.”
“I’ve been preparing.”
Despite himself, Leo laughed.
Then his expression changed.
“You scared me today.”
Beatrice looked down.
“When Victoria hit you.”
“I’m okay.”
“That is not what I said.”
She raised her eyes.
Leo was looking directly at her.
For once, there was no billionaire between them.
No crime boss.
No employer.
Just a tired man who had already lost too much.
Beatrice’s voice softened.
“I’m still here.”
“Yes.”
Leo’s gaze lingered.
“You are.”
The elevator doors opened.
Neither mentioned the moment again.
Dr. Price looked twenty years older than he had at dinner.
His voice came out rough.
“Beatrice.”
She approached the bed.
“Why me?”
“Because Leo won’t believe the rest if I start with him.”
Leo stepped forward.
“Try me.”
Price closed his eyes.
“I falsified records after Sofia died.”
Leo’s entire body went rigid.
“What records?”
“Lily’s psychological evaluation.”
Beatrice leaned closer.
“Why?”
“Arthur ordered it.”
“What did you write?”
“That her trauma caused unreliable memory formation.”
Mateo, standing near the door, swore quietly.
Price continued.
“She remembered too much.”
Leo’s voice dropped.
“What did my daughter remember?”
“Victoria.”
“The red car.”
“A man.”
Price swallowed.
“And me.”
Leo stared.
“You were there?”
“After the explosion.”
“Why?”
“Arthur sent me.”
“To save Sofia?”
Price looked away.
Leo moved toward him.
Beatrice stepped between them.
“Leo.”
“Move.”
“No.”
“He left my wife to die.”
“You need him talking.”
Leo’s hands curled into fists.
Price began crying.
“I didn’t know Sofia was alive.”
The room went silent.
Leo looked at him.
“What?”
“When I arrived, I was told she was dead.”
“By who?”
“Arthur’s security chief.”
“Name.”
“Graham Voss.”
Mateo’s face changed.
Leo noticed.
“You know him?”
Mateo nodded.
“He handled Kensington security for twenty years.”
Price continued.
“I signed what they put in front of me.”
“Then I examined Lily.”
“She kept saying Victoria had been there.”
“Arthur told me to make that memory disappear.”
Beatrice felt sick.
“You drugged her?”
“No.”
“I gave her medication for sleep.”
“Too much?”
Price looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
Leo stepped closer.
“You sedated my four-year-old daughter so she couldn’t tell me what she saw?”
Price’s eyes filled.
“I told myself I was protecting her.”
“From what?”
“Arthur.”
Leo’s voice became deadly calm.
“Where is Graham Voss?”
“I don’t know.”
Mateo checked his phone.
“I might.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Kensington still owns an old lake house in Wisconsin.”
“Voss has used it before.”
Leo headed toward the door.
Price suddenly grabbed Beatrice’s wrist.
“Wait.”
She looked at him.
“There’s more.”
Leo turned.
Price released her.
“The inhaler.”
Beatrice went cold.
“What about it?”
“Victoria called me three weeks ago.”
“She asked how dangerous it would be if Lily missed a dose during an attack.”
Leo stopped moving.
Beatrice whispered, “What did you tell her?”
“I told her it could become life-threatening.”
Leo’s face emptied.
Price closed his eyes.
“And yesterday morning, Victoria called again.”
“She said she needed to know how long Lily could survive without it.”
Nobody spoke.
Then Leo asked the only question that mattered.
“Did she say why?”
May you like
Price slowly nodded.
“She said by tonight, Leo would finally understand that the maid was dangerous.”
