Escape from Mr. Whitman (Emma and Theodore) novel Chapter 408

"Where have you been, you heartless bastard? Are you just going to abandon us?" Cecilia wailed from the ground, hurling her purse at him again.

Jared blocked it with his arm. He looked down at her, and the tense lines on his face suddenly smoothed out.

He crouched down, his expression a mask of despair. "My dear, why do you think I was avoiding you? I was doing it for you!"

"Bullshit!" Cecilia shot back. "You were trying to get rid of me and your son!"

"My dear!" Jared feigned agony. "You saw the email on Theo's phone last night. Don't you understand what's happening? I'm going to prison! Staying away from you is the best thing I can do for you. I don't want to drag you down with me. Listen to me, get rid of the baby, find a decent man, and settle down. Or… go beg Theo for forgiveness."

Cecilia froze. Theo didn't want her either.

"Are you really going to jail? Is there no other way? What about all that money?" she demanded.

"All you think about is money," Jared chided. "Forget about it. It's all going to be frozen and seized. I'm going to prison. There's nothing left for you with me."

The color drained from Cecilia's face. "Is there really no other way?"

"Well…" Jared's eyes narrowed. "There might be one."

"What is it?" A flicker of hope ignited in her eyes.

"We silence the people who know," Jared hissed, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

A shiver ran down Cecilia's spine.

"Cici, you're the only one who can do this. Theo is suspicious of me now. There's no way he'll let me near his office."

Cecilia looked into Jared's cold, merciless eyes and felt a wave of terror.

* * *

Fallon was doing her daily grocery shopping at the supermarket, just like any other day.

After selecting a fish, she turned around and nearly collided with someone. Her groceries tumbled from her hands and scattered across the floor.

It was Cecilia.

Cecilia smiled at her. "So you transferred your daughter to a new school?"

Fallon's face went pale.

"Did you really think that would be enough to hide her from me?" Cecilia's smile was that of a predator.

"What… what do you want from me?" Fallon's voice trembled.

Cecilia leaned in close, her cloying perfume making Fallon feel dizzy. "I need you to do something for me. If you don't, I will find your daughter, no matter where you send her."

Tears streamed down Fallon's face. "Why are you doing this to me? I'm just a housekeeper…"

"You…" Jared swallowed his anger. Why hadn't he done it himself? Because if things went wrong, he needed a scapegoat.

As they were arguing, Jared's phone rang.

"Boss, I think they've been taken to the hospital."

"The hospital?" Cecilia jumped to her feet.

"Let's go. We need to see this for ourselves."

Jared was about to leave when Cecilia found something online. Buried deep in the local social media trends was a screenshot of a conversation between a hospital worker and a friend. The worker was complaining about how exhausted they were after four members of the same family were admitted for poisoning, overwhelming the ER.

In the chat, the friend asked how they were doing.

The worker replied: *It's not looking good. They're all in the ICU, unconscious. No idea if they'll ever wake up.*

"Four people?" Jared muttered. "Is it them?"

"If you include Theo, that makes exactly four," Cecilia said.

"I still need to go to the hospital to be sure," Jared insisted.

But before he could leave, Hanley called, his voice choked with sobs. "Jared, it's terrible! Something awful has happened! Theo's been poisoned! And his family—well, his ex-family—his grandmother, Emma, and Larson Rossi, they were all poisoned too. They're all in the hospital! They say it was some kind of chemical. They might not wake up!"