Eight Months Pregnant, She Was Forced to Wash His Mistress’s Feet—Then Two Attorneys Entered the Ballroom

Daniel could not move.

Nora held the gun with both hands.

The woman who had represented Arthur for decades now stood beside Preston.

Grace lay on the floor, blood spreading across her shoulder.

She was alive, but barely.

“Nora?” Daniel whispered.

Nora’s eyes filled with tears.

“I tried to keep this buried.”

Preston took the gun from her.

Police surrounded the building, but Preston had locked the loading doors remotely.

Caleb crawled toward his sister.

“Why?” he demanded.

Nora looked at Grace.

“Because Arthur discovered I had approved some of the shell companies. Lydia told me they were legal tax structures. By the time I realized the truth, my signature was on everything.”

“You could have testified,” Daniel said.

“I would have lost my career. My freedom. Everything.”

“So you killed him?”

Nora shook her head.

“I disconnected the oxygen because Lydia told me Arthur had already changed his will and blamed me for the fraud.”

Preston laughed.

“She believed us.”

Nora’s face twisted.

“You said he was dying anyway.”

“He was,” Preston replied. “You simply made it happen sooner.”

Daniel understood.

Preston had brought Nora to the facility because Grace was the only witness who could identify her.

Once Grace was dead, Preston planned to eliminate Nora too.

Daniel looked toward the security camera above the laboratory door.

Its light was blinking.

The building’s power had been restored.

Everything was being recorded.

He needed Preston to keep talking.

“You married Emily to get the company,” Daniel said.

Preston pointed the gun at him.

“I married Emily because Arthur would never trust Lydia or me directly. Emily was the key.”

“And the baby?”

“Once Emily was declared incompetent, I would control the trust as the child’s guardian.”

Nora stared at him.

“You said Emily would be treated safely.”

Preston smiled.

“You really do believe whatever people tell you.”

Grace suddenly moved.

She pulled the fire alarm beside the floor.

Sprinklers exploded overhead.

The lights flickered.

Caleb tackled Preston.

The gun slid across the laboratory.

Daniel grabbed it first.

Nora ran toward the loading door.

Police forced their way inside moments later.

Preston was arrested.

Grace was rushed into surgery.

Nora disappeared through a rear service corridor.

Back at the hospital, Emily watched the live security footage with federal investigators.

Preston’s confession had been recorded clearly.

For the first time, there was enough evidence to connect him to the corporate fraud, her planned abduction, and the conspiracy surrounding Arthur’s death.

But Nora still had one thing no one else possessed.

The original signed version of Arthur’s will.

The copy presented in the ballroom could be challenged without it.

Hours later, Emily received a message from Nora.

Give me the ledger and withdraw your testimony against me. Otherwise, I will destroy the original will and testify that Arthur lacked mental capacity when he signed it.

A photograph was attached.

Nora was holding the original will over a burning fireplace.