Chương 6
“After Vanessa lost the baby, she struggled.”
“I treated her during that period.”
“She became obsessed with the idea that someone had stolen her future.”
Ethan interrupted.
“And you helped her?”
The doctor looked ashamed.
“At first, I thought I was helping someone heal.”
“Then I realized I was helping someone justify revenge.”
Mason looked toward Vanessa.
“So you planned this together.”
Vanessa remained silent.
Dr. Bennett answered.
“Yes.”
The word cut through the room.
Mason stepped back.
The betrayal felt impossible.
Two people.
Two trusted faces.
Both hiding behind kindness.
“You poisoned Claire,” Mason said.
Dr. Bennett shook his head.
“I prepared the medication schedule.”
“But I did not put the toxin into her drink.”
Everyone looked at Vanessa.
She looked down.
Mason’s voice became quiet.
“Who did?”
Nobody answered.
The silence itself was an answer.
Then Ethan noticed something.
“Wait.”
He looked at the medical records.
“The toxin entered her system through the drink.”
Dr. Bennett nodded.
“Yes.”
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
“But you said you weren’t the one who brought it.”
Vanessa’s expression changed.
For the first time, she looked afraid.
Dr. Bennett looked toward the hallway.
“We need to find him.”
Mason immediately noticed.
“Him?”
The doctor hesitated.
“There was another person involved.”
The door behind the officers opened slightly.
Everyone turned.
A hospital employee stood outside.
A young man wearing surgical scrubs.
He looked nervous.
Mason recognized him.
He had seen him earlier.
He had been assisting nurses throughout the delivery.
The young man looked at Dr. Bennett.
“It’s over.”
Dr. Bennett closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
The security officers moved toward him.
The man did not run.
He slowly removed his hospital badge.
“My name is Daniel Cross.”
Ethan looked at the badge.
Then at Dr. Bennett.
“Another accomplice.”
Daniel swallowed.
“I only wanted the truth to come out.”
Mason stared at him.
“You almost killed my wife.”
Daniel looked toward Claire.
“I didn’t know the toxin would affect her that badly.”
The words made Mason’s expression harden.
“You didn’t know?”
His voice dropped.
“You poisoned a woman who had just given birth and you didn’t know?”
Daniel looked ashamed.
“I thought she would recover.”
Claire closed her eyes.
The betrayal was too much.
Mason moved closer to her.
“I’m sorry.”
She looked at him.
“This isn’t your fault.”
But Mason shook his head.
“It is.”
Claire looked confused.
“I should have protected you.”
The words were quiet.
“But I trusted the wrong people.”
Dr. Bennett stepped forward.
“Mason.”
Mason looked at him.
“There is something else.”
The doctor hesitated.
“I need you to understand why this happened.”
Mason gave a cold smile.
“I already understand.”
“No.”
Dr. Bennett looked serious.
“You don’t.”
He glanced toward the babies.
“The documents Vanessa created were not just about guardianship.”
Ethan opened the folder again.
His eyes moved quickly across the pages.
Then his expression changed.
“What is this?”
Mason looked at him.
“What?”
Ethan handed him the document.
Buried beneath the forged signatures was another clause.
A clause that changed everything.
Mason read it slowly.
His face lost all emotion.
“If something happened to Claire…”
He stopped.
Ethan finished the sentence.
“Vanessa would become the legal guardian of the children.”
The room went silent.
Mason looked at Vanessa.
She had wanted his family.
Not because she loved him.
Not because she wanted forgiveness.
Because she wanted to replace Claire.
Vanessa looked at the babies one final time.
And Mason saw something that frightened him more than anger.
Regret.
But it was too late.
Because the truth was finally standing in front of him.
And now he had to decide what to do with the people who nearly destroyed everything he loved.
And now he had to decide what to do with the people who nearly destroyed everything he loved.
For a moment, Mason said nothing.
The room was filled with people waiting for his reaction.
The security officers.
The doctors.
Ethan.
Vanessa.
Dr. Bennett.
Daniel.
But Mason only looked at Claire.
Because despite everything that had happened, despite the betrayal and the pain, she was the only person who mattered in that moment.
Her eyes were still weak, but she was awake.
She was alive.
That was the only reason Mason could continue standing.
He walked back to her bedside and gently touched her hand.
“I’m not letting anyone hurt you again,” he whispered.
Claire looked at him quietly.
There was sadness in her expression, but there was also relief.
She had spent hours believing she might die without ever being heard.
Now the truth was finally visible.
Ethan turned toward the security officers.
“Take them into custody.”
The officers moved toward Vanessa, Dr. Bennett, and Daniel.
Vanessa did not fight.
She simply stared at Mason.
“I never wanted this.”
Mason looked at her.
“That’s not true.”
A tear appeared in Vanessa’s eyes.
“I wanted a life with you.”
Mason’s expression remained cold.
“You wanted a life that belonged to someone else.”
Vanessa looked toward Claire.
“I watched her get everything.”
Claire slowly shook her head.
“You were never watching me.”
Vanessa looked confused.
Claire continued weakly.
“You were watching an idea.”
“What?”
“You weren’t angry because I had Mason.”
Claire took a breath.
“You were angry because you believed losing him meant losing your chance to be happy.”
Vanessa looked away.
For the first time, nobody saw a villain.
They saw someone who had allowed pain to become something dangerous.
But Mason could not forgive what she had done.
Understanding was not the same as acceptance.
Dr. Bennett stood quietly as the officers approached him.
Mason looked at him.
“You saved Claire’s life after helping destroy it.”
The doctor lowered his head.
“I know.”
“Why?”
Dr. Bennett looked exhausted.
“Because when I saw her condition getting worse, I realized what I had become part of.”
“You could have stopped it.”
“Yes.”
His voice cracked.
“I should have.”
Mason stared at him.
“You were supposed to protect people.”
Dr. Bennett nodded.
May you like
“I failed.”
The officers escorted him away.
