Chapter 2 - The Chemistry of Control
I spent the night in my room above the laundry wing, listening to the house breathe. It was a living, pulsing entity of secrets. By midnight, I had mapped out my exit, but I didn't leave. I couldn't. I had seen the look in Ethan’s eyes when he realized he could stand, and I knew that if I vanished, he would be pumped full of the "purple medicine" again until he was nothing more than a statue in a chair.
At 3:00 AM, my door opened without a knock. It was Nathan. He didn't come in; he leaned against the frame, a silhouette in the dim hallway light.
"The blood work is back," he said. His voice was tired. The facade of the Don was slipping. "He has trace amounts of a sedative in his system. A high-grade paralytic used in veterinary medicine."
I didn't act surprised. I had noticed the symptoms months ago—the lethargy, the glazed eyes, the way his muscles would twitch in his sleep. "Dr. Aris is the one who administers it, sir. Not me."
Nathan walked into the room, his eyes scanning my meager belongings. He found the journals I kept—not diaries, but observation logs of Ethan’s health, his diet, and his physical progress. He picked one up, flipping through the pages.
"You’ve been tracking his recovery better than his doctors," he noted, his tone shifting from suspicion to curiosity. "Why?"
"Because he’s a child," I said, rising to meet his gaze. "And you’re paying me to keep his environment clean. I couldn't keep his environment clean while someone was poisoning his body."
He looked at me, and for a fleeting moment, I saw the man he might have been before the world demanded he become a monster. "I hired Aris because he was the best. He promised me he would keep Ethan stable."
"He was keeping him still, Mr. Blackwell. There’s a difference."
Nathan sat on the edge of my bed. The room felt smaller, crowded by the sheer density of his presence. "Who are you, Vivi? Really?"
"I’m a woman who needed a job, sir. And a woman who hates seeing things broken that don't need to be."
"You’re a liability," he said. "But you’re the first person in three years who has made my son laugh." He stood up, placing the journal back on the table. "Dr. Aris is currently being 'escorted' out of the city. I need you to stay. I need you to finish what you started."
"And if I refuse?"
May you like
"Then my security team will ensure you leave this property, and you will never work another day in your life."
I took the deal. Not for the money, and not for the safety, but for the boy who had learned how to stand on my back.
