Chapter 4 - The Foxglove Protocol
Hidden deep within a encrypted folder titled PERSONAL_ARCHIVE, Nora found a series of audio logs recorded by Ethan over the past two months.
She plugged in his desktop headphones, pressing play on the most recent recording dated three days prior.
Ethan’s voice filled her ears, raspy and exhausted:
"If anyone is listening to this... especially you, Nora... I'm so sorry. I found out what Vanessa has been doing with the botanical grants. She isn't funding cancer research. She’s been routing millions through shell corporations controlled by Apex Bio-Tech—a black-market chemical supplier in New Jersey."
Nora gasped, pressing the headphones tighter to her ears.
"I confronted her yesterday. She threatened me, Nora. She said if I went to the board, she would make sure I lost everything—my reputation, my family, my life. I started feeling sick last night after drinking the water she brought into my office. My heart has been fluttering. I think she’s poisoning me slowly."
"I hid the original ledger files inside the safe at our cabin in Lake Placid. The key is tucked inside Wren's silver rattle in the nursery. Nora, if anything happens to me, do not trust Vanessa. Do not trust the bank records. She forged my signature on the restructuring papers. I love you both so much. Keep our baby safe."
The recording clicked off.
Nora sat frozen in the leather chair, tears streaming down her face. Ethan hadn't wanted a divorce. He hadn't lied to her. He was trying to protect her while somebody systematically poisoned his body from the inside out.
Vanessa hadn't just spiked the soup that night—she had been lacing his office coffee and water for weeks with low doses of digitoxin to build up a lethal concentration in his blood, then finished the job by sneaking into their house and lacing the paprika in the pantry during her visits!
Suddenly, the electronic lock on the office door chimed.
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP.
The door handle turned.
Nora snapped her head toward the entrance, grabbing Ethan’s USB drive from the computer tower, yanking it out just as the door swung open.
May you like
Standing in the doorway, wearing a black trench coat and holding a sleek silver handgun, was Vanessa Cole.
"I knew you'd come here, Nora," Vanessa said softly, stepping inside and locking the door behind her. "You always were predictable."
