His wife had called three times in the last ten minutes.
A new message flashed under her name before he could answer.
Did she finish the whole drink?
Marcus felt the blood drain from his face.
He unscrewed the flask.
The smell that rose from it was faint but wrong—metallic, bitter, medicinal in a way no child’s juice should ever smell.
He jerked it away from Lila so quickly she turned toward him in confusion.
“Daddy?”
Before Marcus could speak, his phone rang again.
This time it was Daniel, the head of security at the Bennett residence.
“Sir,” Daniel said, voice tight, “Mrs.
Bennett just called the house.
She told staff to clear out every medication in Miss Lila’s room before you get back.
She sounded…
urgent.”
Marcus closed his eyes for one second.
When he opened them, the billionaire was gone.
What remained was a father standing on the edge of something monstrous.
He looked at the boy.
“What’s your name?”
“Kojo.”
“Get in the car,” Marcus said.
Kojo hesitated, glancing
