Chapter 992
Her reaction was immediate. A brief flash of alarm crossed her features before she managed to regain control.
She started to answer, but I interrupted her. “Melisa, if you were responsible, then whatever arrangement we’ve made ends tonight. I can’t stay with someone who wants me dead.”
She stared at me for several seconds before shaking her head emphatically. “I didn’t! Ethan, how could you even think that? I love you. I would never do something like that to you!”
I let my expression soften just enough to suggest that her explanation had convinced me. After a long pause, I exhaled. “It had better be true.”
“It is!” she insisted quickly. “You have to believe me.”
I took a measured drink before casually introducing the next piece of bait. “I’m traveling to Thiynia later this month. I have a business partnership to handle there, and while I’m away, I’ll undergo a complete medical examination. Their hospitals are among the best in the world. It should finally tell me exactly what kind of substance is circulating through my body.”
Her reaction was precisely what I had anticipated. Thiynia’s medical technology was exceptional. Even if the doctors couldn’t treat the poison immediately, identifying its composition would be simple for them. And once they discovered what it was, Melisa’s secret would not remain buried.
Her composure cracked. She hurriedly put down her utensils. “Ethan, Thiynia isn’t exactly peaceful right now. I’d be terrified of something happening to you. Why don’t I come with you?”
I rejected the suggestion without hesitation. “I’m traveling for work. Bringing you along would create unnecessary complications.”
She pressed her lips together. A calculating look surfaced in her eyes.
I didn’t need to guess what she was considering. She was choosing between two paths. She could surrender the antidote before my departure, or she could find a way to become pregnant first and turn the child into a permanent means of controlling me.
I kept my expression neutral and continued playing the role she wanted to believe. I cut a piece of steak and placed it on her plate, deliberately allowing warmth to enter my voice. “Still, you’re not completely wrong. Things aren’t exactly stable in Thiynia right now. I’ll reconsider the trip.”
Her eyes immediately brightened. “Yes, you should! Think about it properly before making a decision. There’s no reason to hurry.”
I watched her excitement with nothing but contempt beneath the surface.
This dinner was more than a conversation. It was a dangerous wager.
If Melisa saw through my trap and decided to keep the antidote hidden, then every move I’d made until now would lead nowhere. But if I could make her surrender it, Lianne would finally have a chance to escape the poison that was destroying her body.
Since her last hospitalization, the doctor’s revelation about the permanent damage had never left me. It followed me through every workday. It haunted me whenever I lay awake at night. Even my dreams revolved around finding some way to save her.
I’d considered every possible route, measured every consequence, and discarded every safer alternative. In the end, this was the gamble I had no choice but to make.