Chapter 2 - The Crimson Staircase
The heavy oak doors of the St. Regis ballroom slammed shut with a deafening boom. Eight armed private security guards stationed themselves at every exit, blocking the panicked guests from leaving.
Paramedics burst through the side doors three minutes later, wheeling a high-speed trauma stretcher onto the marble floor.
"Partial placental separation!" the lead paramedic yelled as they gently transferred Serena onto the stretcher, stabilizing her neck and hips. "Severe blunt force trauma! She's losing blood! We need to move her to St. Jude’s High-Risk OB unit right now!"
Harrison stayed right beside the stretcher, his hand locked with Serena’s. He didn't look back at the room full of high-society spectators. He didn't care about the scandal, the ruined charity gala, or the stock market implications. His entire universe had shrunk down to the pale woman on the gurney and the unborn child fighting for life inside her.
As the paramedics wheeled Serena toward the private service elevator, Harrison paused for a single second. He turned his head toward his head of security, Vance.
"Vance," Harrison said, his voice dropping into a register so low and lethal that even the seasoned bodyguard flinched. "Keep Victoria Vance and Julian Sterling in this building. Lock them in the security office. If either of them attempts to make a phone call, break their fingers."
"Understood, Mr. Sterling," Vance replied instantly.
Ten minutes later, Harrison was inside the back of the mobile intensive care unit, holding Serena’s ice-cold hand as the ambulance tore through the rain-slicked streets of the city, blue lights flashing against the dark skyscrapers.
Serena was drifting in and out of consciousness. Her lips were blue, her breathing ragged.
"Harrison..." she whimpered, her thumb weakly stroking his knuckles. "My... my mother's locket... it fell out of my clutch... on the stairs..."
"I'll find it, Serena. I swear I'll get it back," Harrison choked out, pressing his forehead against her back of her hand. "Just focus on breathing. You and the baby are going to survive this. Do you hear me? I won't let them take you from me."
"It wasn't... just about the shares, Harrison..." Serena gasped, a fresh wave of tears spilling down her pale cheeks. "Julian... he has a doctor... inside St. Jude's... He planned this weeks ago..."
Harrison’s heart skipped a beat. A dark, terrifying realization washed over him.
The ambulance was heading straight into a trap.
Harrison pulled out his encrypted satellite phone, dialing his personal physician, Dr. Aris Thorne.
"Aris," Harrison commanded before the doctor could even greet him. "Clear the entire 4th-floor obstetric surgical suite at St. Jude’s immediately. Replace every nurse and technician on duty with your personal trusted team. Anyone associated with Dr. Robert Vance or the Sterling family trust is to be removed by armed guard before my ambulance arrives in three minutes."
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"Harrison? What happened?" Dr. Thorne asked, alarmed.
"They tried to kill her, Aris," Harrison said, his jaw tightening so hard his teeth clicked. "And if anyone in that hospital so much as breathes on her wrong tonight, I will tear the building down to its foundation."
