Chapter 1 – The Toast That Never Happened
The ballroom fell into complete silence.
Every crystal chandelier still sparkled above hundreds of stunned guests, but no one dared breathe.
Ethan Carter never took his eyes off the security screen.
The footage played again.
And again.
A hidden camera inside the private bridal suite showed Amelia Sinclair removing a tiny silver vial from her designer clutch.
She glanced over her shoulder.
No one was there.
She twisted open the champagne bottle prepared exclusively for Ethan, crushed two white tablets into a powder, and poured them inside.
Then she gently swirled the bottle before smiling at her own reflection.
The timestamp showed it had happened only twenty-three minutes before the ceremony.
The ballroom erupted.
"Call the police!"
"She's insane!"
"Someone stop her!"
Amelia's face drained of color.
"Those weren't poison," she stammered. "They're just sleeping pills."
The elderly housekeeper, Mrs. Evelyn Brooks, stepped forward.
"No."
Her voice was calm.
"I cleaned your room every day for six years."
She reached into her apron and placed another object on the table.
The empty prescription bottle.
The label had been scratched away, but the pharmacy barcode remained.
"I picked this up after you threw it into the fireplace."
Ethan handed it to the hotel's emergency physician.
The doctor examined the remaining residue.
His expression hardened.
"This isn't a sedative."
He looked directly at Ethan.
"It's a cardiac toxin."
"If you had consumed even half that glass with alcohol..."
He paused.
"...your heart could have stopped within minutes."
Amelia suddenly bolted toward the exit.
She never made it.
Security tackled her before she reached the doors.
As officers placed handcuffs around her wrists, she laughed.
Not cried.
Laughed.
"You think I'm the villain?"
She looked directly at Ethan.
"You haven't even met the real one."
May you like
Then she whispered one sentence that chilled him more than the poison ever could.
"You were never the target."
