Chapter 1: The Alarm
Chapter 1: The Alarm
The room was still smiling when the alarm began.
A sharp electronic chirp.
Then another.
Then a continuous warning tone.
Everyone froze.
Emma's face drained of color.
The medical bracelet around her wrist flashed red.
A nurse at a nearby table shot to her feet immediately.
"What happened?" someone asked.
Emma gripped the edge of the table.
Her breathing became shallow.
The wine glass slipped from her fingers and shattered across the marble floor.
Red liquid spread like blood between the chair legs.
Jonathan Reed was beside his daughter in seconds.
"Emma!"
She looked terrified.
Not surprised.
Terrified.
As though she had felt this before.
The nurse knelt beside her.
"What did you drink?"
Emma pointed weakly toward the broken glass.
"Just... one sip."
The bracelet continued screaming.
The device had been prescribed after Emma's kidney transplant two years earlier.
It monitored dangerous reactions connected to medications and allergens.
The nurse's expression darkened.
"This isn't normal."
Across the table, Vivian's smile had vanished.
"Don't be ridiculous," she snapped.
"It's wine."
The nurse ignored her.
Within minutes, paramedics arrived from the medical center attached to the hotel.
Emma was rushed out of the dining room.
Jonathan followed.
The party dissolved into frightened whispers.
Only Vivian remained unusually calm.
Too calm.
Until the hotel security manager entered carrying a tablet.
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"We need to review the camera footage."
For the first time that evening, fear flickered across Vivian's face.
