The Price of a False Hero

anderbilt ballroom packed once mor

athered to witness the outc

ntly beside Bree' s wheelchai

t watched nervous

main doo

and beside him, walking

tunned silence swept

nt, smiled faintly at

ars of joy streaming down her

n faltered, replaced b

mered. "She was in a

e terms of the bet were clear, Kensington, whose patient shows de

gazes shifting to Chad,

trapped, his

riumphant cry came from the ornate

ast, Etha

, seemingly on her own two feet, a d

ed again, utte

after all!" Bree declared, her voice ringing with triumph

ittle charity case!" she mocked,

e of relief and smugness. The cro

e calmly, his exp

is voice cutting

eable when you first came to me, even after the accident, but now, thanks to whate

ng. "What nonsense are you sp

intending to descend the grand stairc

first step, she cried ou

her legs buckl

horror as Bree coll

hitched up, revea

uely discolored, the skin appearing nec

k of horror rose f

screamed, rushing t

! My

en, his face a

pointed a trembling finger at Chad. "You! What have

uickly surrounded

who was cradling a hyste

ediate medical attention, the decay is rapid, to save her life

hrieked at Ethan. "No! It' s your faul

despair, then at her daughter' s decaying li