She Crawled Toward The Button Before Her Husband Realized Everything

Marion lay flat on her stomach, the freezing chill of the marble pressing against her pale skin. Her breath came in short, ragged gasps, every inhalation feeling like a sharp blade turning inside her lungs. She looked up and saw Chloe standing right beside Reed, non-chalantly folding her arms inside her robe without making a single move to help. The mask of the loving husband and the caring nurse had completely fallen away, leaving behind raw, naked cruelty.

Marion: Why... why are you doing this to me?

Reed: Because I am tired of waiting, Marion. Fifteen years I played the dutiful husband while you sat on top of your father's fortune like a guard dog.

Chloe: We have been patient enough, Reed. The poison in her daily drinks has built up in her system just like the doctor promised it would.

Marion: You... you poisoned me... with the vitamin drops...

Reed: It was a slow-acting toxin, sweetie. Totally untraceable to a standard coroner unless they specifically look for it. Everyone in town already thinks you have a terminal neurological disease anyway.

Marion felt tears of pure betrayal streaming down her hot cheeks. She had trusted Reed with her life, opening her home to him, giving him high-paying executive positions in her father's company, and buying him every luxury car he had ever dreamed of owning. Yet all along, he was working behind her back with Chloe, calculating the exact dosage needed to paralyze her body and slowly stop her heart from beating.

Reed: In less than twenty minutes, your breathing will stop completely. The doctor will sign the death certificate citing respiratory failure from your progressive condition, and as your surviving spouse, I will inherit the entire trust fund, the estate, and every building in the city portfolio.

Marion: You monster... the law will catch you...

Reed: What law? The police will see a tragic medical emergency. A wealthy heiress who succumbed to her long-term illness. Now die quietly, Marion!

Marion closed her eyes for a brief second, feeling the dark fog of weakness creeping into the corners of her mind. But deep inside her chest, a burning spark of survival refused to fade out. She opened her eyes and spotted the low wooden trim along the base of the white marble wall just five feet away from where she lay. Mounted right beneath the custom woodwork was a small silver panic button, a discreet security device installed years ago by her father that connected directly to an off-site private security network and frozen asset vault.

Chloe: Look at her, Reed. She is trying to crawl. It is pathetic.

Reed: Let her try. She doesn't have the strength to move two inches.

Marion dug her fingernails into the slick marble floor, pulling her heavy upper body forward inch by painful inch. Her arms shook wildly under her weight, her muscles burning with intense fatigue as the toxin rushed through her veins. She dragged her useless legs behind her, ignoring the sharp pain in her ribs and the terrible burning in her throat. She kept her eyes locked on that tiny silver button, treating it like the only light left in a dark world.

Marion: I won't... let you win...

Reed: You have already lost, Marion. Look at you, crawling like an insect on your own floor.

Chloe: Should I pull her back, Reed?

Reed: Don't bother. She won't reach it before her heart gives out anyway. Enjoy your final moments, my dear wife.

Marion gritted her teeth, ignoring Reed's cruel laughter that echoed through the grand mansion. She stretched her right arm out as far as it could go, her fingertips scraping against the smooth silver surface of the panic switch. With the absolute last drop of strength remaining in her body, she slammed her palm flat against the button, pressing it down hard into the wall.

Reed: What did you just do?!