Chương 3
She was awake again.
This time, she looked calmer.
“Charles.”
“I need to ask you something.”
She nodded.
“The person Warren was talking to.”
Her expression changed.
“You found them?”
“Not yet.”
“Then why are you asking?”
“Because you might know something you forgot.”
Lillian looked down.
“Tell me what you remember.”
She was silent for several seconds.
Then she whispered:
“It was outside our house.”
“When?”
“Two nights before I got sick.”
Charles listened carefully.
“What did the person look like?”
“I only saw from a distance.”
“Man or woman?”
“A man.”
“Age?”
“Maybe around sixty.”
“Anything else?”
Lillian closed her eyes.
“He had a scar.”
“Where?”
“Near his left eye.”
Charles immediately wrote it down.
“Did Warren call him by name?”
Lillian hesitated.
“Yes.”
“What name?”
Her fingers tightened around the blanket.
“Martin.”
Charles felt a strange feeling.
Not recognition.
Not yet.
But something close.
“Martin what?”
“I don’t know.”
She opened her eyes.
“But Warren said one more thing.”
“What?”
“He said, ‘After this, nobody can take what belongs to us.’”
Charles felt a chill.
“Us.”
Lillian nodded.
“That’s what scared me.”
Before Charles could respond, his phone rang again.
This time, it was Teresa.
“Charles, we identified the number.”
Charles stepped away from the bed.
“Who is it?”
There was a pause.
“Martin Hale.”
Charles froze.
The name hit him like a sudden memory.
“Who is that?”
Teresa lowered her voice.
“He used to work with Warren.”
“When?”
“Twenty years ago.”
Charles looked toward Lillian.
“What kind of work?”
“Pharmaceutical research.”
Charles felt his heartbeat increase.
“What happened to him?”
“He lost his medical license after an investigation.”
“Why?”
“Unauthorized drug trials.”
The room became silent.
Charles remembered something from twenty years earlier.
Lillian’s allergic reaction.
The hospital.
The medication.
The investigation.
The reason she had almost died.
The reason she had carried that medical alert card ever since.
“Teresa.”
“Yes?”
“Was Martin Hale involved in the original Dexopraline incident?”
Another pause.
Then:
“Yes.”
Charles closed his eyes.
The pieces were moving into place.
Too perfectly.
Too dangerously.
Twenty years ago, Martin Hale had nearly destroyed Lillian’s life.
Twenty years later, the same medication appeared on her skin.
And Warren Prescott, the man who knew everything about her allergy, had somehow been connected to the person responsible.
“Charles.”
He opened his eyes.
“I’m here.”
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“The financial records.”
Charles waited.
“Warren wasn’t stealing money from his business.”
“Then what was he doing?”
“He was preparing to transfer ownership.”
“To who?”
Teresa’s voice became quiet.
“To a company that doesn’t officially exist.”
Charles looked through the glass at Lillian.
The woman who had trusted Warren for thirty years.
The woman who had almost died because someone knew exactly how to hurt her.
“Find that company.”
“We already did.”
Charles held his breath.
“What is it called?”
Teresa hesitated.
Then she answered.
“Vance Medical Solutions.”
Charles felt the blood leave his face.
Vance.
Lillian’s family name.
A company she had never created.
A company she knew nothing about.
And somehow, Warren had built an entire future around it.
“Charles.”
He could barely speak.
“Yes?”
“You need to prepare yourself.”
“For what?”
“Because this was never just about killing Lillian.”
Charles looked at the hospital room.
“What was it about?”
Teresa answered slowly.
“Taking everything she owned before anyone realized she was gone.”
Charles stayed in the hospital hallway long after the call ended.
The words kept repeating in his mind.
Taking everything she owned before anyone realized she was gone.
He had spent his entire career understanding human behavior during emergencies.
Fear made people unpredictable.
Desperation made people dangerous.
But greed was different.
Greed allowed people to plan.
It allowed them to wait.
It allowed them to smile while they destroyed someone’s life.
Charles returned to Lillian’s room.
She immediately noticed his expression.
“What happened?”
He pulled a chair closer.
“Lillian, I need you to listen carefully.”
She nodded.
“Warren created a company using your family name.”
Her face changed.
“What?”
“Vance Medical Solutions.”
She stared at him.
“I don’t own any company.”
“I know.”
“Charles, that’s impossible.”
“I believe you.”
Her eyes filled with confusion.
“Why would he do that?”
Charles looked at the floor.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out.”
Lillian slowly shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“No, you don’t understand.”
“What don’t I understand?”
She looked terrified.
“Warren hated business risks.”
Charles frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“He was always careful.”
She swallowed.
“He would spend three hours comparing two insurance plans.”
“He would read every contract ten times before signing.”
“He would never create something illegal.”
Charles remained quiet.
Because he knew what she was really saying.
She was not defending Warren.
She was trying to understand how the man she knew could become someone else.
“People change,” Charles said softly.
Lillian looked away.
“Maybe.”
A tear moved down her cheek.
“But I never thought he would change into this.”
Across the city, Detective Teresa Morales and her team searched through Warren’s digital records.
The deeper they went, the more confusing the story became.
There were payments.
Transfers.
Encrypted files.
Hidden accounts.
But there was one thing missing.
A clear reason.
Money alone was not enough.
There had to be a final goal.
At noon, Teresa received a message from her financial analyst.
She opened the file immediately.
Then she stopped.
Because the information was not what she expected.
The company Vance Medical Solutions had been created eighteen months earlier.
The registration documents listed Warren Prescott as a consultant.
But the primary owner was listed as Lillian Vance.
A woman who had never heard of the company.
A woman who was currently fighting for her life.
Teresa leaned back in her chair.
“He didn’t just steal from her.”
Her partner looked over.
“What?”
“He created a legal identity for her.”
“Why?”
Teresa continued reading.
“Because someone needed to inherit something.”
The partner looked confused.
“From who?”
Teresa looked at the documents again.
“From Lillian.”
May you like
The realization settled over them.
Warren was not simply hiding money.
