Chapter 3
Nora reached out to grab his arm. “At least stay down here on the couch until we can get a professional exterminator out here tomorrow morning.”
Edgar shoved her hand away in annoyance. “I am not going to sleep on a couch in my own house just because you are acting completely paranoid.”
He turned away and walked up the staircase, his heavy footsteps echoing down the hallway until the bedroom door clicked firmly shut.
Downstairs, Kristina remained frozen in the middle of the kitchen, her hands shaking violently. She could still save her only child if she ran up those stairs and dragged him out of that room, yet she remained rooted to the spot out of sheer self-preservation.
Nora grabbed her mobile phone, stepped out onto the back patio, and immediately called emergency service providers. While she was explaining to the dispatcher that a venomous reptile was inside the residence, a heavy thud echoed from the second floor, followed by absolute silence.
Paramedics and local responders arrived shortly after, forcing their way into the master bedroom where they found Edgar unconscious on the carpet beside the mattress. He had been bitten directly while lying down, and due to his extreme intoxication and the delay in treatment, medical personnel could not revive him.
Kristina let out a blood-curdling scream that vibrated off the high ceilings of the foyer. She stared at Nora with wild eyes, then looked back toward the staircase, realizing with horror that her own trap had just claimed her only son.
Seconds later, Kristina clutched her chest in agony and collapsed onto the tile floor.
Although she survived the massive heart attack and subsequent stroke, the medical crisis left her with permanently reduced mobility throughout the left side of her body.
The police opened a detailed investigation regarding the deadly snake, while Kristina insisted desperately from her hospital bed that the incident was a tragic freak accident. Nora remained quiet for the moment, choosing not to reveal what she had witnessed through the bedroom door until she understood the whole truth about Heather Perkinson.
The truth emerged shortly after the funeral service concluded.
Wayne Chappell, Nora’s corporate legal counsel, uncovered a series of recurring monthly bank transfers that Edgar had been quietly making for nearly three years to a woman named Heather Perkinson. The funds were covering luxury apartment rent, lavish weekend trips, credit card balances, and private medical bills.
“Nora,” Wayne Chappell said gently during a private consultation, “Heather Perkinson is currently seven months pregnant.”
That very afternoon, Nora returned home to find three of Edgar’s distant relatives standing outside her front security gate. Standing directly in the middle of the group was a young, stylishly dressed woman who was softly stroking her visible baby bump.
Heather Perkinson offered a cold, triumphant smile. “I assume you already know who I am by now. This baby is Edgar’s legal son, and I am here to collect his rightful portion of the family inheritance.”
Before Nora could say a word, one of Edgar’s aunts stepped forward aggressively. “Since you were never capable of giving him a real family, the only decent thing to do is sign this house over to his actual heir.”
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Nora unlocked the iron gate without emotion. “Step inside, and tomorrow morning we can discuss every single penny Edgar left behind.”
Heather Perkinson smiled warmly at the relatives, convinced she had won the confrontation, completely unaware that the vast fortune she was claiming did not exist.
