CHAPTER 3: PARIS WAS NEVER THE DESTINATION
Six hours later, the jet landed outside Paris.
But Alexander never entered the city.
Instead, his convoy drove directly to a private pediatric hospital outside Versailles.
Doctors rushed Sophie into intensive observation.
Estelle waited quietly in the hallway.
She had every reason to leave.
She owed these people nothing.
Yet she couldn't walk away.
Not while a frightened little girl kept reaching for her whenever she woke.
Hours passed.
Finally, the chief pediatrician emerged.
"The medication caused severe dehydration, but you arrived in time."
Alexander closed his eyes in relief.
"She'll recover?"
"Yes."
"But if she'd received another dose..."
The doctor didn't finish the sentence.
He didn't need to.
Alexander turned toward Estelle.
"You saved her life."
She shook her head.
"I simply noticed what everyone else overlooked."
At that moment, Alexander's phone vibrated.
His security chief.
"We searched the house."
"And?"
"We found emails."
Alexander's expression hardened.
"Between Miss Laurent and a financial adviser."
The investigator continued.
"They were discussing your will."
Another pause.
"And they believed Sophie was the only obstacle."
Alexander's hand tightened around the phone.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The rushed engagement.
The pressure to marry.
The mysterious illness.
Even the insistence on flying to Paris.
Celeste had never wanted a wedding.
She had wanted an inheritance.
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Minutes later, French authorities detained her at the hotel where she had been waiting for Alexander's arrival.
She never saw him again.
