My mother-in-law suddenly collapsed from a brain hemorrhage. I dialed 911 frantically, but a Maybach waiting at a red light ahead refused to budge for the ambulance. I recognized the car—it belonged to my husband, Silas. I called him immediately, screaming for him to move. But the voice that answered was his "True North," Sarah, his first love who had just returned to the country: "It’s not like someone’s dying. Why are you in such a rush?" I screamed into the phone: "Someone is dying! It’s Silas’s mother in the back of this ambulance!" "She has a brain hemorrhage! If you don't move now, she’ll miss the golden window for surgery!" Silas grabbed the phone and cursed at me: "Elena, are you insane? "Just because I'm out at lunch with Sarah, you’re making up stories about my mother being sick? I’m not moving an inch!" He didn't just block the lane; he actively cut off the ambulance multiple times as we tried to navigate traffic. Later, my mother-in-law died in the back of that ambulance. Silas and Sarah ended up in prison. And I? I took over every single asset they ever owned. 1 My mother-in-law, Martha Sterling, was the Chairwoman of Sterling Global. She collapsed during a board meeting. I called 911 immediately, fighting for every second. But as the ambulance raced toward the hospital, we hit a gridlock at the intersection of 5th and Main. A black Maybach sat idling at the red light. Despite the blaring sirens and the air horn, the driver refused to pull into the intersection or move to the shoulder. I knew that car. I knew that vanity plate. It was Silas. I called him, my hands shaking. "Silas, move! Your mom is in the ambulance behind you! "She has a massive hemorrhage! Move now or we lose her!" I expected him to panic, to swerve out of the way immediately. Instead, Sarah’s voice purred through the speakers: "Elena, get a life. "I just got back to the States and wanted to catch up with an old friend. I'm not trying to 'steal' your husband. "Why are you being so toxic, claiming Martha is in an ambulance? "Besides, the light is red. What do you expect Silas to do? "There are only thirty seconds left. Can’t you wait? It's not like the world is ending." I felt like my own heart was going to stop from the sheer fury: "Are you an idiot? You don't get ticketed for yielding to an emergency vehicle! You get fined for blocking one! "And is a potential ticket more important than Martha’s life? Do you think this family can't afford a fine?" The EMTs in the back were sweating, shouting at me: "You said that's your husband? Make him move! "The patient is losing too much blood. We need her on an operating table ten minutes ago. "If we miss the window, even a miracle won't save her. Does he want his mother to die?" But on the other end, Silas didn't believe a word. He thought I was playing a desperate game of jealousy. Sarah continued to whisper in his ear, her voice dripping with "logic": "Don't listen to her. If you run the light, you’ll get points on your license. "Sure, you can appeal it, but who has the time? "Especially a CEO-in-waiting like you—your time is money. "It’s only a few more seconds. Just wait. It’s less hassle. "Elena is so desperate she’s actually cursing your mother just to control you. I bet that’s actually her ex-boyfriend, Julian, the actor, in that ambulance." "I told you, didn't I? The tabloids said Julian was filming an action scene nearby and got hurt. "Elena is trying to save her ex by using your mom as an excuse. Silas, your wife is wicked. Don't let her win." 2 My head throbbed. Silas actually believed I was trying to save my ex? No wonder he wouldn't move. I used to wonder why a trust-fund brat like him would care about a traffic ticket. The truth was, his time wasn't worth anything. Silas had zero business acumen; he knew nothing about managing the company. He only knew how to race cars, hit the clubs, and play video games. Martha only chose me as her daughter-in-law because she saw him for the loser he was. She needed someone with my management experience to keep the empire from crumbling. She wanted me to be strong, yet she feared that once she was gone, Silas wouldn't be able to handle me. That was why she was obsessed with her health—she claimed she’d live to be a hundred. She wanted me to have a son quickly so she could train the third generation herself. And now, her son was using the Maybach she bought him to block her only path to survival. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I screamed into the phone one last time: "Silas Sterling, if you don't move, your mother is going to die! "And you will never, ever be able to take it back!" Silas sounded completely unbothered, practically whistling into the receiver: "Elena, give it a rest. My mom is fine. She was at the gym yesterday. "You want to save your actor boyfriend? Not on my watch. "Go ahead and plan his funeral. I’m staying right here." 3 The ambulance driver looked ready to scream: "Is the moron in front seriously your husband? The light is green now! Why is he still blocking us?" The EMTs looked at me, their faces grim: "She’s fading. We need to get her to the ER now. Tell your husband the severity! "If he doesn't move, it's over. Is he really her son?" He was. Everyone else gave up on him years ago, and he proved them right every day. I looked at the call that had been heartlessly disconnected, then at my unconscious mother-in-law. I whispered in my head: "Mom, you have to hold on. Don't die. "If you go, I can't promise my ambition won't take over. I’ll kick Silas out of the company so fast his head will spin. "You told me once—once a woman tastes power and wealth, she never wants to go back. I’m not immune to temptation. "Sarah probably knows exactly who is in this ambulance. She wants you dead. "If you're gone, no one stands in her way of marrying Silas." Martha was the one who kicked Sarah out of the country years ago. She saw through her. Martha used to say: "My son is a lost cause. My daughter-in-law has to be the backbone. "Otherwise, what happens to the legacy? "Don't worry about Silas’s flings. Focus on the business. Learn the Sterling way. "I’m training you to take over. You’ll have a son, and we’ll raise him right together." Sarah figured that if Martha was dead, she could manipulate Silas into divorcing me and throwing me out. She thought she’d become the new Mrs. Sterling and live the high life. Unfortunately for her, she underestimated me. If Martha died, I wouldn't just divorce Silas. I would make sure both of them rotted in a cell for what they did. Then, I would take every single thing Martha built. 4 CRASH. The ambulance driver finally snapped. he rammed the back of the Maybach, forcing it out of the way. He looked at me in the rearview mirror, panic in his eyes: "Don't make me pay for that! I can't afford the paint job on a Maybach! "I’m doing this to save a life! It's an emergency!" I said quickly, "You won't pay a cent. Thank you, sir. Just drive." He sighed in relief. "Copy that." But the nightmare wasn't over. As the ambulance tore through the intersection toward the hospital, Silas gave chase. I knew how good Silas was behind the wheel. He spent his twenties on amateur race circuits. He was a "pro." If he wanted to block us, a heavy ambulance had no chance. The Maybach began weaving, cutting us off again and again, playing a lethal game of cat and mouse on city streets. I tried calling him again. This time, I hit Video Call. If he could see his mother—pale, intubated, dying—he would stop. But Silas wouldn't pick up. I called once. Declined. Twice. Declined. The third time, his phone was turned off completely. The monitors in the back began to flatline—beep, beep, beep. The EMTs were doing chest compressions. I sat there, watching the woman who had raised Silas alone. His father had died when he was five, leaving her with a massive corporation and a young son. Silas used to tell me: "My mom is the only person in the world who matters. "If she ever needed a kidney or a liver, I wouldn't even hesitate. "I’d give my life to save hers." And yet here he was. She didn't need his organs. She just needed him to move his car. Such a simple thing. And he couldn't do it. A wave of absurd, hollow powerlessness washed over me. The EMTs were nearly in tears. "The hemorrhage has reached the pons. We’re losing her! "Driver, faster! We're running out of time!" The driver gripped the wheel, his shirt soaked with sweat. He shouted back: "I can't get past! "This guy in the Maybach... he’s too good. He’s doing this on purpose! "We’re one block away. One block! "I’m calling the police the second we hit the bay. I want this bastard in handcuffs!" Finally, we reached the hospital gates. The Maybach, realizing he couldn't block the hospital entrance without causing a massive pile-up, floored the accelerator and vanished into the night. The driver spat out a curse: "Animal! She would have been better off giving birth to a piece of coal than him!" I looked at Martha. A single tear had escaped her closed eyelid. Could she hear us? Was her heart breaking as it failed? I squeezed her hand. "Mom, don't be scared. We're here. Hold on." The ambulance screeched to a halt at the ER bay. The trauma team was waiting. They sprinted her into surgery immediately. But it was too late. The surgeon came out twenty minutes later, his face grim. "I’m sorry. We did everything we could. "If she had arrived two minutes earlier... just two minutes. "That was the window. We could have stopped the bleed. "But now... I'm so sorry for your loss. "Call your family. It’s time to make arrangements." 5 I stumbled, my mind blank except for that one phrase: "Just two minutes." Those two minutes were stolen by Silas Sterling. He murdered his own mother. The tears finally came, hot and bitter. I picked up my phone and dialed his number again. I wanted to scream: "She’s dead! You killed her! Are you happy now?" But his phone was still off. I called Martha’s assistant, Mark, and told him to come to the hospital. Then, I called my best friend, Sarah—no, not that Sarah—my friend Jane, who worked in PR. "What? Silas and that girl killed Martha? "Is he insane? He blocked an ambulance? "Does he know it was his mother yet? "Does he realize he just killed the only person who actually protected him?" I leaned against the cold hospital wall. "He doesn't know. He’s probably out celebrating Sarah's return. "Jane, I need you to leak it. "I know your media channels. Get the dashcam footage from the ambulance. Get the intersection cameras. "I want the whole world to see Silas Sterling blocking his mother’s life flight. "I want the Board of Directors to see that the 'heir' is a matricidal coward. I want them to turn on him before the body is even cold." Jane didn't hesitate. "Elena, you're going for the throat?" I knew it was "too soon." I knew people would judge me for being cold. But I was filled with a hatred so deep it burned. I hated Silas for being a waste of space. And I knew if I didn't act now, Sarah would whisper in his ear until he kicked me out of the Sterling estate. "If I don't destroy him now, when?" I asked, my voice cold. "Should I wait until he marries Sarah with Martha’s money? "Martha trained me to be the successor. I won't let her down. "Sterling Global belongs to me now. "Silas is the only thing in my way. So I’m taking him off the board." Jane took a sharp breath. "Understood. I'll make sure he burns."
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "391361", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel