One Screenshot to Burn an Empire Chapter 09

One Screenshot to Burn an Empire Chapter 09

I needed to get to the Don’s office, to get a true picture of the family’s state.

This battle was only just beginning.

Just as I reached the door, my hand on the handle, a hoarse, hollow voice came from behind me.

“Aurelia.”

I stopped but didn’t turn around.

“My Mom… something’s happened to her.”

My heart sank.

I understood instantly.

That call was from the hospital.

“She fell down the stairs… She’s in emergency surgery…”

His voice was strained, laced with broken sobs.

“The doctor said… it’s not looking good… she might be paralyzed…”

I spun around. He was covering his face with his hands, his broad shoulders shaking violently.

This man, always so proud and domineering, was now like a helpless child.

My mind went blank.

Eleanor. For all her sharp-tongued cruelty, she was still Julian’s mother.

How could she have fallen down the stairs?

An accident?

Or…

A terrible thought flashed through my mind.

I remembered her hysterical rage on the phone, the sound of things breaking.

I remembered her threat to make Julian dissolve our marriage and throw me

out.

With her paranoid, domineering personality, what would she have done after failing to get her way with Julian?

Would she have rushed to the estate to confront me? To settle the score with

Cassia?

My heart sank further.

I strode over to Julian and grabbed his arm.

“Which hospital is your mother in?”

Julian looked up, his red-rimmed eyes shot through with despair.

He looked at me, his expression impossibly complex.

“Aurelia,” he grabbed my hand, his grip crushing. “What did you say to her?”

It felt like a needle to the heart.

Even now, his first instinct was to suspect me.

“Julian,” I wrenched my hand free, my voice like ice, “Is that truly the kind of woman you think I am?”

“I…” he opened his mouth, a flash of regret in his eyes as he realized his

mistake.

I didn’t give him another chance.

“This isn’t the time to assign blame.” I took out my phone and started searching for nearby hospitals. “Tell me which one. I’ll go with you.”

Whatever our grievances, a life was on the line.

And in a way, I had set these events in motion.

If something truly happened to Eleanor, my conscience would never be clear.

Julian gave me the name of the hospital.

We rushed out of the conference room and toward the elevator, one after the

other.

The family members in the office stared as we left, their faces a mixture of panic and bewilderment.

They had no idea that the grand drama of a power struggle had just veered into family tragedy.

The ride to the hospital was suffocating.

Julian drove, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles

were white.

He said nothing, just relentlessly floored the accelerator, weaving through

traffic.

I sat in the passenger seat, my mind a tangled mess.

My phone started vibrating wildly again.

This time, it was Sloane.

I answered.

“Aurelia! I found it! This is huge!” Sloane’s voice was trembling with

excitement.

“I know I was looking into Cassia, but guess what I found when I followed the money trail?

“That core Volkov member who sent Cassia the money-he wasn’t the

mastermind!”

“There’s someone behind him!”

“You’ll never guess who it is!”

“Aurelia, are you still there? You know this person!”

My heart was in my throat.

“Who is it?”

Sloane took a deep breath and said a name that struck me like lightning.