Meanwhile,

The parking lot of Blue Light Hospital was still teeming with reporters and doctors, but the tension was beginning to thin out as the day wore on. Eliot and Eloise had already slipped away, their calculated performance in front of the cameras now long forgotten. 

Meanwhile, Sofia Carrington and her children - Avery, Bryce, Brody, Ava, and Alexis - emerged from the hospital, casting glances over their shoulders to ensure they weren’t followed. Their blonde hair gleamed under the hospital's bright fluorescent lights, their movements synchronized as if rehearsed. They looked like the picture of grace, but Lily’s condition was hardly a cause for concern for them. In fact, it was a reason to celebrate.

Sofia clutched her purse with a practiced smile, keeping a cool, calm exterior. She walked ahead of her children, her heels clicking sharply against the pavement.

 

"I hope that stupid girl never wakes up," Alexis sneered, her voice full of bitterness as she flicked her blonde hair back. "She’s caused enough trouble. All this drama for years, and now it’ll finally be over." She glanced at her siblings, a hint of excitement in her eyes.

Avery, the eldest of the brood, gave a tight-lipped smile. "Don't get too excited. We’ll have to wait for Emma to trip over herself. That’s the real goal, isn’t it? The Carrington fortune will go to whoever takes the reins next. And it’s not going to be some emotionally unstable kid like her."

Bryce, the ever-smug youngest son, scoffed. "Emma will never stand up to us. She’s weak. Once Lily's out of the picture, it’s just a matter of time before she cracks."

Brody, the brooding, quiet one of the bunch, added, "We’ve been waiting for years to claim what’s ours. It’s almost too easy."

Sophia kept her eyes forward, not bothering to join in the conversation. She didn’t need to; the smug satisfaction on her face was enough. 

"You all know what we have to do," she murmured lowly, enough for only her children to hear. "Emma will fall in line once she knows that she’s next in line to inherit. She’ll be too desperate to fight. And if she does, well..." She trailed off ominously.

Bryce smirked. "We all know what happened to Lily. The girl didn’t stand a chance. So, let’s not get sentimental about Emma. The world is a cold place. Only the strong survive."

Sofia looked at them with a satisfied gleam in her eyes. "Exactly. This family is about survival, not about playing nice. It’s time to take what’s ours."

They all climbed into the waiting black SUV, its tinted windows dark enough to conceal their intentions. As they settled in, Sofia leaned forward and gave a quiet instruction to the driver. "Take us to the estate."

The driver didn’t say a word, merely nodding before putting the car into drive. The atmosphere in the vehicle was tense, but there was an undercurrent of excitement. They were one step closer to their ultimate goal: the Carrington fortune.

And they weren’t about to let Emma, or anyone else, stand in their way.

Back at the hospital, Lily’s younger sister, Emma, was pacing in the hallway, her heart hammering in her chest as she waited for any sign of her sister’s recovery. Lily had been in a coma for hours now, and the doctors had said they couldn’t promise anything. But Emma refused to believe it. Her sister couldn’t be gone, not like this.

She looked up when she saw her father, John Carrington, walk briskly down the corridor. His face was grim, a mask of authority that only cracked when he saw Emma.

"Any news?" Emma asked, her voice breaking slightly.

John shook his head, the lines on his face deepening. "They’re doing everything they can, but we have to prepare ourselves for the worst."

Emma felt a pang of fear, but she shook it off. "No. No, I won’t believe it. She can’t be... dying."

John didn’t respond immediately. He turned to look over his shoulder, his eyes narrowing as he watched the SUV pull out from the hospital parking lot. He had just seen Sofia and her children leave — too quickly, too conveniently — and his gut told him something wasn’t right.

"Don’t worry about them right now," John said, his voice darkening. "I’ll handle your mother and her... schemes. You focus on Lily."

Emma nodded, though she didn’t believe him. She knew her father better than anyone, and she knew exactly what he was capable of when it came to protecting his family.

But even as she steeled herself for what was to come, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

As John walked away, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He glanced at the screen, his lips pressing into a thin line when he saw who was calling.

"Mr. Ashton" he muttered under his breath. He answered the call. "What do you want, Erickson? Hasn't your son done enough damage?"

The voice on the other end was distant, but the words were unmistakable. "Your daughter isn’t the only one in danger. Someone’s after her - someone you won’t be able to stop."

John’s grip tightened around the phone. "What are you talking about?"

The voice on the other end paused before responding, his tone lower, more sinister. "You won’t believe me now, but by the time you do, it might be too late."

Before John could respond, the call abruptly ended.

Emma, who had overheard the conversation, stared at her father, confusion clouding her eyes. "What was that about?"

John didn’t answer. Instead, he turned toward the hospital doors, his mind racing as he made a mental list of everything that had happened in the last 24 hours. 

His family’s betrayal. 

Lily’s condition. 

The strange phone call.

And then, there was the matter of the mysterious figure who had been lurking around the hospital — a figure he couldn’t shake from his mind - as he immediately dialed the commissioner's number.