The Billionaire’s Gilded Debt

Chapter 18

The corridor was a haze of shadow and the steady, sickening drip of something hitting the floor. I moved, but felt no ground beneath my feet. My head split open with the force of a bolt from the blue, and the warmth trickling down my spine had started to cool off. Each step down that staircase was a battle against an unseen enemy. I clung to the mahogany banister, leaving dark sticky imprints on its surface as I did so. I needed to reach Lina; I needed to tell her something… but every word felt like lead in my mouth.

As I approached the last few steps, reality started tilting away from me. The chandelier above glimmered golden lights that stretched into long jagged lines of brightness. The smell of roasted rosemary drifting from the dining room—once so sharp—now seemed miles away. My vision didn’t just fade; it turned into a gray fog without any features at all.

Voices bubbled up to my ears as if they were under water.

“Clara? Child, is that—” Lina’s voice, usually a lash of authority suddenly cracked with jagged terror.

“Clara! Oh god, Lina look at the floor!” Daisy’s scream was the last thing I really heard.

My knees didn’t just buckle; they vanished into thin air. The floor came rushing up at me—cold and hard—and then there was nothing but darkness.

Lina and Daisy were on the floor in an instant. Daisy cradled Clara’s head, her hands immediately coming away soaked in a terrifying amount of crimson.

"She’s not waking up! Lina, she’s not …

“Call Marcus now!”Lona shouted

Elias did not come down; as soon as he closed the door, he called for Marcus. “Marcus! Get the doctor! Now!” Marcus was already moving before Daisy could call him again ; his boots were loud in the hallway. He did not ask questions; he saw the pale, ghostly girl lying in a pool of red and picked her up with grim efficiency. They took her to her small quarters, leaving a trail of blood behind them like a path marking out the Master’s rage.

Daisy worked with shaking hands while Lina hovered over the bed. She got a basin of water and white cloths but every time she pressed a rag to the back of Clara’s head, it turned dark red in no time at all. “It won’t stop,” Daisy cried as tears fell into the pink-stained water. “Lina, it won’t stop coming out!” She stood up on wobbly legs to get more water; her vision blurred by a constant stream from her eyes.

Then a gust of wind announced that the family doctor had come. Dr. Aris burst, breath heavy as if he’d run for miles. He didn't wait for an introduction; his eyes dropped to the bed where the girl lay. She looked less like a person and more like a porcelain doll—her skin so translucent it seemed to glow against the dark, matted hair staining the pillow.the room with his face dripping sweat and his breath heavy like he had just run for miles. He looked around at the cramped space by habit first. "Where is Mr. Elias?" He didn't wait for an answer;

Blood kept pouring, soaking her hair and ruining the pillows. "I need hands," Aris said as he opened his medical bag. "My assistant will be here in ten minutes, but we don't have that much time. Daisy, Lina—get moving! Hold the pressure while I get the sutures ready." Lina moved up with a face that looked like stone grief and took Clara's weak hand as the doctor started his sad job.