Chapter 2 - The Medication inside the Bridal Suite
Paramedics placed me on a stretcher beside the dance floor.
Seraphina stood near the wedding cake with one hand covering her mouth. The photographers had stopped taking pictures, but their cameras remained raised.
Julian refused to release my wrist.
“My wife is frightened,” he told Diana. “I need to stay with her.”
I looked at his fingers around my skin.
“Let go.”
His grip tightened.
Diana stepped between us.
“She asked you to release her.”
“I am her husband.”
“That is not medical authority.”
Julian looked around at the guests.
He still believed the room might protect him if enough wealthy people watched.
Then one paramedic lifted the fabric near my ankle.
The fluid beneath me was not clear.
Dark red blood stained the stretcher sheet.
“We need transport now.”
Diana moved toward Julian with the handcuffs.
Seraphina rushed forward.
“You cannot arrest him during my wedding.”
A second agent blocked her.
“This reception is an active investigation.”
“My guests have done nothing.”
“Then they will be free to leave after identification.”
Seraphina’s face twisted.
“You people cannot destroy a private event because Audrey became hysterical.”
Diana looked at her.
“A pregnant woman was locked inside a room while bleeding.”
“She always exaggerates.”
I had heard that sentence from every Sterling.
When I questioned missing money, I exaggerated.
When Julian emptied my savings account, I misunderstood.
When his father placed my signature on a vineyard loan, I became emotional.
Their crimes survived because they converted every objection into a personality defect.
The paramedics rushed me through the ballroom.
As the stretcher passed the bridal table, I noticed a silver medical pouch beside Seraphina’s chair.
My name was written across the label.
“Audrey Hart Sterling.”
I reached toward it.
“What is that?”
Seraphina stepped in front of the table.
“Nothing.”
Diana picked up the pouch.
Inside was a prescription bottle, a syringe, and an appointment summary from my obstetrician.
I had never seen any of them.
The bottle contained medication used to prevent premature contractions.
My doctor had told me no prescription was required because my pregnancy had been stable.
The appointment summary claimed I had reported bleeding three days earlier and refused hospital admission.
“That is false,” I said.
Julian’s face became unreadable.
Diana handed the documents to an evidence officer.
“Who brought this pouch?”
Seraphina crossed her arms.
“It was in Audrey’s guest room.”
“I did not have a guest room.”
Julian answered quickly.
“My mother prepared one in case Audrey became tired.”
Celeste stood near the staircase surrounded by agents.
She wore a silver gown and the expression of someone offended by inconvenience.
“I arranged private care,” she said. “Audrey rejected it.”
The paramedic examined the prescription label.
The medication had been collected that morning by Julian Sterling.
“Why did you collect medication in my name?” I asked.
He looked toward the officers.
“You forgot it.”
“I was never prescribed it.”
“You have been confused for weeks.”
Diana opened the syringe packet.
The seal had been broken.
The syringe contained no visible liquid, but the needle was damp.
The paramedic smelled the cap.
“This is not the prescribed medication.”
Celeste spoke sharply.
“Do not make medical accusations in front of guests.”
The paramedic sealed it inside a bag.
“We need toxicology.”
My stomach tightened around another contraction.
A memory returned.
Before the ceremony, Seraphina insisted I drink a special herbal tea inside the bridal suite. She said it would calm the baby during the photographs.
The tea tasted bitter.
I drank only half.
“Who prepared the tea?” I asked.
Seraphina’s face lost color.
Julian stepped toward the stretcher.
“You need to stop talking.”
Diana pulled him back.
“What was in the tea?”
“No one poisoned her.”
I had not used that word.
Julian had.
The ballroom shifted around me as the paramedics moved toward the doors.
Diana walked beside the stretcher.
“The sealed warrants cover financial conspiracy,” she said quietly. “If someone interfered with your pregnancy, this becomes another investigation.”
My hand closed around hers.
“Do not let Julian leave.”
“He will not.”
At the ambulance, an officer ran toward Diana carrying my secure phone.
“We found an incoming message on the device.”
Only Diana should have known its number.
The message contained a photograph of me drinking tea inside the bridal suite.
Beneath it was one sentence.
May you like
THE WRONG WOMAN WENT INTO LABOR.
Continue to the next part: A photograph from inside the locked bridal suite reveals another pregnant guest was part of the plan.
