The bodyguard shoved the double doors open. He pushed Aubree hard from behind.
She stumbled into the massive, brightly lit VIP suite. Her knees gave out. She crashed onto the cold ceramic floor tiles.
Dayna sat in the hospital bed. She wore a designer silk gown. Her face was pale, but her eyes gleamed with victory.
Eli sat in a chair next to the bed. He held a plastic cup with a straw, gently holding it to Dayna's lips.
He heard the thud and turned his head. He saw Aubree sprawled on the floor. His eyes instantly turned to ice.
Eleonora and Camilla walked into the room. They stood behind Eli, crossing their arms.
Aubree gritted her teeth. Her knees screamed in pain. Her head spun from the fever. She pressed her palms against the floor and tried to push herself up.
Eleonora stepped forward and kicked Aubree hard in the back of the knee.
Aubree let out a muffled groan. Both of her knees slammed back onto the hard floor. She was forced into a kneeling position.
Eli watched his mother kick her. He didn't blink. He didn't tell his mother to stop. He set the plastic cup down on the tray table.
He stood up and walked over to Aubree. He looked down at her like she was a disease.
"Apologize to Dayna," Eli's voice was a low, dangerous rumble. "Apologize to the child you tried to kill."
Aubree lifted her head. Her wet hair stuck to her pale, bruised cheeks. Her eyes burned with defiance.
"I didn't push her," Aubree forced the words through her swollen throat. "She threw herself backward."
Dayna covered her face with her hands. She let out a loud, dramatic sob. "It's okay, Eli," Dayna cried. "Don't yell at her. Maybe I just slipped."
Dayna's tears acted like gasoline on Eli's rage. He bent down, grabbed the collar of Aubree's silk pajamas, and hauled her up to her feet.
He pulled her face inches from his. "You planned it perfectly," he roared. "Right in the camera blind spot."
Aubree stared into his eyes. This was the man she gave her kidney to. He looked like a complete stranger.
She didn't fight his grip. Instead, the corners of her bloody lips twitched. She let out a broken, mocking smile. "Are you blind, Eli?"
The mockery in her eyes snapped his control. He raised his right hand, pulling it back to strike her.
Aubree didn't flinch. She didn't close her eyes. She leaned her face forward, waiting for the hit that would end everything.
Eli's hand stopped in mid-air. He stared at her flushed, sickly face and the dark finger marks on her neck-marks his own hand had made just hours before. A sudden, violent wave of self-disgust, sharp and unexpected, hit his stomach. He was horrified by the physical evidence of his own monstrous loss of control. He shoved her backward, not out of revulsion for her, but for the unfamiliar, terrifying lack of discipline he felt in himself.
He pulled a white linen handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his right hand, as if touching her had infected him.
"Your lies mean nothing," Eli said coldly. "My lawyers will make sure you rot in Rikers Island."
Camilla held her phone up, recording the entire exchange.
Aubree slumped against the wall. Her body shook with fever, but she forced her spine straight.
She looked past Eli, straight at Dayna. "Karma will come for you," Aubree said. Her voice was dead and flat.
Dayna gasped and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Eli immediately stepped in front of the bed, shielding Dayna with his body.
He turned his back to Aubree. "Sign the confession and the agreement," he ordered. "And get out of New York."
