Chapter 1
"Ava's trembling hands gripped the arms of her wheelchair as Margaret pressed the glass of orange juice against her lips.
""Drink it.""
""I won't.""
Margaret's smile disappeared.
""You don't have a choice.""
She grabbed Ava's chin and forced her face upward.
The bruise on Ava's cheek turned a deeper shade of red.
Tears filled her eyes.
""I'll never sign those papers.""
""You won't remember refusing.""
Just then, the office door burst open.
Lena rushed inside.
""Stop!""
She grabbed Margaret's arm and looked toward the legal documents spread across the desk.
""She didn't sign!""
Margaret's face twisted with rage.
Before anyone could react...
She slapped Lena so hard that she crashed into Ava's wheelchair.
The damaged wheel twisted sideways.
The wheelchair tipped over.
Ava hit the wooden floor with a painful cry.
Legal files scattered across the room.
A small medicine bottle rolled beneath the desk before bursting open.
White pills spilled across the sunlight.
Ava struggled to breathe as she reached toward Margaret with trembling fingers.
Her voice cracked into a whisper.
""Please...""
""...don't hurt her.""
For one terrifying second...
Margaret simply stared down at the helpless woman lying on the floor.
Then—
The double doors swung open.
A man stood frozen in the doorway.
A black briefcase slipped from his hand.
His eyes slowly moved across the room.
The overturned wheelchair.
The scattered pills.
The unsigned legal papers.
The maid clutching her swollen cheek.
His wife lying helplessly on the floor.
Finally...
He looked at the woman standing over her.
""Mom?""
The room fell silent.
Margaret turned pale.
For the first time...
She realized there was no explanation that could erase what her son had just seen.
Minutes later, Ethan discovered the hidden recordings, the sedatives disguised as vitamins, and the forged legal documents prepared to steal everything from the woman he loved.
But the greatest shock came when investigators uncovered evidence suggesting his mother's plan had begun long before the pills...
On the very night the car crash left Ava in a wheelchair.
