Chapter 242

Chapter 242
The threat wasn’t loud.

It wasn’t violent.

It wasn’t explicit.

It was worse.

It was intimate.

Arabelle patted her hand with a soft, chilling warmth.

“You should really be more careful. Especially now that Serena has so much to lose.”

Mrs. Lin quietly pulled her hand away.

Arabelle’s eyes darkened with amusement.

Perfect.

At that moment, a nurse knocked on the door. “Mrs. Lin, the doctor will see you soon...”

“Oh, we’re done here,” Arabelle said sweetly, rising to her feet. “Lovely seeing you again.”

She swept past the nurse with the same angelic smile. But as she walked out, she turned her head slightly, just enough for the nurse to miss it, but not Mrs. Lin.

A small vial glinted in her hand.

A dropper.

Clear liquid.

Subtle.

Fast.

Odorless.

She let one glistening drop slide from the vial’s tip, onto the smooth tile floor beside Mrs. Lin’s chair.

The liquid was slippery.

Invisible.

She capped the vial, slipped it into her purse, and was gone before anyone realized she had even paused.

Seconds Later, Mrs. Lin stood to meet the doctor.

Her foot slid.

Her balance tipped.

Her hand grasped the air, her voice caught in her throat...

THUD.

Her head struck the edge of the examination bed before she hit the floor.

Nurses screamed.

A doctor rushed forward.

“Mrs. Lin! Mrs. Lin, can you hear me?”

Blood trickled from her scalp.

Her eyes fluttered in confusion.

“Call emergency! Now!”

The clinic staff scrambled.

Machines beeped.

A stretcher was wheeled in.

And in the hallway, walking slowly with calm, unhurried steps… Arabelle did not look back. But her lips curved. Just slightly. A soft, satisfied smile.

Serena had just finished another grueling call with the Lib Group’s board when her phone buzzed again. She didn’t bother to check the ID, half her day was crisis management anyway.

But the second she answered, the world stopped.

“Miss Lin? This is Dr. Mini from the family Hospital. Your mother has been admitted in...”

Serena’s heartbeat detonated.

Her chair scraped violently across the marble floor as she shot to her feet. “What... what do you mean brought in? What happened to her? Is she okay? Put her on the phone!”

Her voice was shaking so badly she barely recognized it.

The doctor spoke fast, clinical, too calm. “Ma’am, she collapsed inside the hospital. It appeared to be a sudden...”

“No. No. No... don’t say it. Don’t...” Serena pressed a trembling hand to her mouth, eyes flooding instantly with tears. “Is she breathing? Is she conscious? Tell me she’s conscious.”

“There was difficulty stabilizing her blood pressure at the scene. We are currently...”

The rest blurred.

A loud ringing filled her ears until she couldn’t hear anything but that.

Her body felt weightless, then unbearably heavy.

Somewhere, far away, she heard her own voice: “I’m coming. I’m on my way. Don’t... don’t let anything happen to her. Please...”

She hung up before she could break completely.

Her vision swam uncontrollably.

Her hands shook so hard the phone nearly slipped from her grasp.

Her mother.

Her mother, who never left the house without texting Serena a good morning.

Her mother, who still asked if Serena was eating enough.

Her mother, sweet, gentle, innocent, who had never hurt anyone and did not deserve this.

Serena’s legs buckled, hitting the edge of the desk. A sob tore out of her throat, raw, feral, involuntary.

“No… no… please, no…”

She staggered toward the door, wiping tears blindly, trying and failing to breathe. Her chest felt tight, crushed, as if invisible hands were squeezing her ribs.

A cold, nauseating terror rolled through her.

Had someone…?

No.

She couldn’t think.

Couldn’t process.

Only one thought burned through the chaos. Get to mom. Get to mom. GET TO MOM.

She practically sprinted to the elevator, heels clattering, tears streaking her face.

She didn’t care who saw.

Didn’t care how she looked.

For the first time in months, Serena wasn’t the composed heiress, the ruthless strategist, the woman everyone feared. She was just a daughter, terrified of losing the only person who had ever truly loved her.

As the elevator doors slid shut, she slumped against the wall, hands trembling violently.

Please.

Please let her be okay.

Please.

Serena whispered the words like a prayer, her voice cracking, breath uneven, tears falling freely. “Mom… don’t leave me. Please… hold on…”

Serena didn’t remember the drive. She didn’t remember the red lights she ran, or the pedestrians who jumped back, or the two security cars that tried to follow her.

She only remembered the hospital doors bursting open as she shoved past them, nearly tripping over her own feet.

“My mother, Mrs. Lin where is she?!” Her voice cracked in the lobby, raw and desperate.

The receptionist flinched. “She was taken to the observation wing, room...”

Serena was already running.

Her breath shredded her throat. She rounded the corner so fast she slammed into a wall, but she didn’t stop, she tore down the corridor and pushed the door open with a choked, shaking gasp.

There she was.

Her mother lay on the bed, an IV in her arm, pale… but breathing. Eyes closed, chest rising slowly, peacefully.

Serena’s knees gave out so sharply she had to catch herself on the edge of the bed.

“Mom…” The word wasn’t a word, it was a sob, a prayer, a collapse.

She grabbed her mother’s hand with both of hers, tears dripping onto the sheets. “You scared me, you scared me so much, don’t ever, don’t ever do that again...”

Her mother shifted slightly, still unconscious but stable. Warm. Alive.

Serena pressed her forehead to the back of her mother’s hand, crying silently, shoulders shaking.

Then..

A soft knock.

“Miss Lin?”

She looked up, eyes red, chest tight.

A doctor stood there, young, in a crisp white coat, too composed. Too rehearsed.

Serena forced herself to stand, wiping her cheeks quickly. “Tell me what happened. Tell me the truth.”