Chapter 2 - THE WHITE POWDER IN THE COLD ROOM
Lily trembled violently against her mother’s chest, her tiny fingers digging into the green fabric of Sophia’s maid uniform. She looked at the terrifying man in the black suit, then looked down at the shattered porcelain and scattered blue frosting coating the white marble floor.
She reached out with one tiny, shaking finger and pointed directly at the ruined cake.
"Because Ethan couldn't eat it," Lily whispered softly, her childish voice carrying easily across the silent room.
Dominic’s dark eyes narrowed slightly. He did not dismiss the three-year-old's words. He knew that children operated on pure, unvarnished observation.
"Why couldn't he eat it, Lily?" Dominic asked, his tone dropping an octave into a register of quiet, serious inquiry.
Lily shifted in her mother's arms, pointing her small index finger past the shattered cake, straight toward the heavy mahogany door of the adjoining service hallway that led to the estate’s walk-in refrigeration units.
"I saw a man in the cold room," Lily said, her wide brown eyes full of innocent, earnest certainty.
She held up her tiny hand, mimicking a rubbing motion with her small thumb and index finger.
"He rubbed white stuff on Ethan’s cake," Lily explained, looking directly into Dominic’s dark eyes. "On the blue star part. Mommy told me white powder on food makes people sick, so I didn't want Ethan to hurt."
Sophia’s face went paper-white. "Lily... sweetie, what are you saying...?"
Dominic stood up instantly to his full height. The warmth in his demeanor vanished, replaced by a cold, razor-sharp aura of lethal intensity. Every guest in the room felt the physical drop in temperature. Everyone in Chicago knew that seven-year-old Ethan Moretti suffered from a severe, life-threatening anaphylactic food allergy—a medical secret fiercely guarded by the family, known only to inner-circle staff and personal medical team.
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Dominic didn't hesitate. He turned his head toward the VIP table near the conservatory entrance, where his private physician stood holding a glass of mineral water.
"Dr. Harris," Dominic commanded flatly. "Test it."
