Chapter 2 - Protocol Black
I didn't sleep that night.
Not because of the pain.
Not because I was afraid.
Because for the first time, I could see the end of David's carefully constructed world.
He had spent months planning my death.
I had spent months preparing his consequences.
The difference was that he believed time belonged to him.
It didn't.
At midnight, Samuel called.
I answered through the eye-tracking system.
"Are you awake?" he asked.
I blinked twice.
The computer translated my response.
YES.
His voice became quieter.
"Everything is ready."
My heart began beating faster.
"Your real estate holdings are protected. The investment accounts are protected. The company shares are protected. The trusts are untouched."
I closed my eyes briefly.
"David cannot access any of them."
That was the part I had been waiting to hear.
David knew about the house.
He knew about certain bank accounts.
He knew about the cars.
He knew about the lifestyle.
He knew enough to believe he understood my wealth.
But he didn't know that most of it existed behind layers of legal protection.
The house where I lay dying wasn't even technically mine.
It belonged to a private holding structure controlled by a trust.
The vehicles were similarly protected.
My business interests were scattered among companies David had never heard of.
And my real will had been rewritten months before the poisoning began.
Under the old documents David had seen, he believed he would inherit everything.
Under the real documents, he would inherit almost nothing.
The house would go to an animal rescue foundation.
Several properties would become charitable assets.
My companies would continue under independent management.
And the majority of my fortune would be placed into structures designed to prevent anyone from exploiting my death.
Including my husband.
"There's something else," Samuel said.
I waited.
"We found another account."
I blinked.
"What account?"
"It isn't yours."
My eyes narrowed.
Samuel continued.
"It's connected to David."
I felt a chill move through me.
"How much?"
"Enough to raise questions."
The account had received several transfers over the previous six months.
Some came from companies connected to David.
Others came from an unknown consulting company.
And several payments had gone to a woman.
Jessica.
I already knew she was his mistress.
But this was different.
Why was David paying her?
And why were the payments connected to the same companies he had been using to move money?
"Samuel," I typed.
"Yes?"
Investigate Jessica. Quietly.
He hesitated.
"Already started."
That answer frightened me more than anything else.
Samuel had apparently discovered that Jessica's identity was not as simple as David believed.
The next morning, David arrived carrying breakfast.
He looked cheerful.
Too cheerful.
"Good morning, sweetheart."
He kissed my forehead.
I stared at him.
He smiled.
"You look better."
The words almost made me laugh.
I looked worse than I had ever looked.
But David wasn't seeing me.
He was seeing an inheritance.
He placed a bowl of rice on the table.
Then he sat beside me.
"I made this myself."
I watched his hands.
He had stopped hiding the poison.
There was a tiny packet on the counter.
He tore it open.
I couldn't move my head enough to see the label.
But the camera could.
That was all that mattered.
David stirred the contents into my meal.
Then he looked at me.
"Eat."
I slowly opened my mouth.
He smiled.
I took one bite.
Then another.
He waited.
I swallowed.
The bitter taste spread across my tongue.
David looked satisfied.
I stopped eating.
He frowned.
"You need your strength."
I stared at him.
He smiled again.
"You're almost there."
Almost there.
The words stayed with me all day.
Later, a nurse entered.
David immediately became the devoted husband again.
He held my hand.
He asked about my medications.
He complained about how difficult it was watching me suffer.
The nurse touched his shoulder.
"You're doing everything you can."
David lowered his head.
"I just want her to be comfortable."
After she left, he waited until the door closed.
Then he whispered:
"Not much longer."
I stared at the ceiling.
There was a strange freedom in knowing exactly who had betrayed you.
You no longer had to wonder.
You no longer had to make excuses.
You simply waited.
That afternoon, Samuel sent me another message.
Jessica has a criminal record under another name.
My eyes froze.
I reread the message.
Then another appeared.
Not for murder. Financial fraud. Identity manipulation. Several civil cases.
David had not simply found a mistress.
He had invited a woman with a history of deception into our lives.
But Samuel wasn't finished.
There's more.
I waited.
She previously worked for an investment company that investigated wealthy clients for inheritance opportunities.
My blood ran cold.
Jessica hadn't met David by accident.
At least, not entirely.
That night, I asked Samuel to send everything.
He sent photographs.
Old corporate records.
Legal filings.
Bank transfers.
And one photograph that made my heart stop.
Jessica was standing beside another wealthy man.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Smiling.
Samuel's message appeared beneath it.
This man died three years ago.
I stared at the photograph.
Then another message appeared.
His widow accused Jessica of manipulating him financially before his death. No criminal charges were filed.
I closed my eyes.
David thought Jessica was his prize.
He had no idea he might be hers.
But there was still something I couldn't explain.
Why had she come into my bedroom with a measuring tape?
Why had she been so confident?
Why was she already planning the curtains?
Because she believed David.
She believed I would die.
And she believed the house would belong to her.
The cameras continued recording.
That evening, David and Jessica met in the study.
They didn't know the cameras were there.
Jessica opened a bottle of champagne.
David laughed.
"Not yet."
She poured anyway.
"Why not?"
"Because I want to wait until she's gone."
Jessica looked annoyed.
"You said it would be tomorrow."
"It will be."
She walked toward him.
"You promised me the house."
"You'll get it."
"And the accounts?"
David hesitated.
Jessica noticed.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You know what we agreed."
David's expression changed.
"Don't worry."
She stepped closer.
"I don't like being lied to."
He grabbed her wrist.
"Neither do I."
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Jessica smiled.
"Then we're perfect for each other."
They kissed.
The cameras recorded everything.
But the most important thing happened after they separated.
Jessica looked at him and said:
"David, there's something you don't know about your wife."
My entire body went cold.
David frowned.
"What?"
Jessica smiled.
"I found out who she really is."
The room went silent.
I stared at my screen.
Because suddenly, I realized something.
Maybe David wasn't the only person who had underestimated me.
Maybe Jessica had discovered my secret.
May you like
And if she had...
Protocol Black might have to become something much more dangerous.
