Chapter 13 - The Alliance of Enemies
We returned to the Wright estate under the cover of total darkness,
finding the house secure.
Little Arthur was sleeping peacefully in the hidden bunker,
unaware of the danger his mother faced.
As I washed the soot from my face in the bathroom,
Ethan knocked on the door.
"Vivian,
you won't believe who is downstairs right now,"
he said,
his voice filled with confusion.
"Who is it?"
I asked,
drying my hands with a towel as I followed him out.
"It's Eleanor Vance,"
Ethan revealed,
his hand resting on his hidden holster carefully.
"She escaped her house arrest and came here alone through the servant's entrance."
I walked down to the main parlor,
finding Eleanor sitting by the fireplace looking completely ruined.
Her expensive clothes were wrinkled,
and her hair was a messy white cloud around her pale face.
She looked up as I entered,
and for the first time,
I saw genuine terror in her eyes.
"Vivian,"
she whispered,
her voice trembling as she stood up with shaky legs.
"You're alive,
thank God you are alive."
"Why are you here,
Eleanor?"
I asked coldly,
not moving an inch closer to her.
"You tried to steal my son and destroy my entire life."
"I was fooled,
Vivian,"
she cried,
tears smudging her expensive makeup horribly.
"Alan Morrison came to my house an hour ago,
telling me you died in a fire."
"He demanded I sign over the remaining Meridian shares to his medical foundation immediately."
"He threatened to kill Julian in prison if I didn't comply with his orders."
"He showed me the original paperwork from twenty-five years ago,"
she confessed,
shaking.
"He was the one who poisoned your father,
Arthur,
to make it look like a heart attack."
"I only wanted the money,
Vivian,
I never wanted anyone to die!"
"But Morrison is a monster,
he will kill all of us to get that patent."
I exchanged a long look with Ethan,
realizing that Eleanor was telling the absolute truth.
She was greedy and cruel,
but she wasn't a cold-blooded killer like Doctor Morrison.
"He is going to the federal patent office tomorrow morning,"
Eleanor warned us,
wiping her face.
"He has the forged signature of your father giving him total control of the genetic files."
"If he registers it,
he becomes completely untouchable under international maritime law."
"We can stop him,"
I said,
my mind forming a definitive plan to catch the doctor.
"But I need your help to do it,
Eleanor."
"You need to call him and tell him you are ready to sign the shares over."
"Meet him at his private clinic at midnight,
just as he expects you to do."
"And what will you do?"
Eleanor asked,
her eyes wide with sudden hope.
"I will be there with the federal authorities and the original ledger,"
I stated.
May you like
"We are going to catch the good doctor performing his final,
illegal operation."
