Chapter 4 - The Hospital Record Nobody Was Supposed to Find
The next morning, I did something I should've done three years earlier.
I started asking questions about Claire's death.
Not threats.
Not orders.
Questions.
I contacted the hospital's legal department and requested the records I was entitled to review.
I also hired an independent medical attorney.
For the first time in my life, I wanted the truth more than control.
Grace sat across from me in the study.
Her cheek had faded from red to pale pink.
I couldn't stop looking at it.
"I'm sorry," I said.
She looked surprised.
"For what?"
"For letting Vanessa into this house."
"You didn't know she'd do that."
"I should've noticed how she treated you."
Grace looked down.
"She was different when you were around."
That sentence hurt.
Because I knew it was true.
The woman I planned to marry had been kind to my son only when I could see her.
What else had I missed?
The attorney called that afternoon.
Some of Claire's hospital records were incomplete.
Several entries had been amended after her death.
And one medication administration record contained an unexplained discrepancy.
I gripped the phone.
"Does that mean someone harmed her?"
The attorney answered carefully.
"Not necessarily. We need an independent medical review before drawing conclusions."
I looked toward Grace.
She was watching me quietly.
"Then arrange it."
After the call ended, I stood near the window.
The ocean glittered beyond the estate.
Three years.
I'd spent three years believing Claire's death was an unavoidable tragedy.
Now I wasn't certain.
Grace approached.
"Dante?"
I turned.
"Yes?"
"There's something else in the box."
She opened a small compartment beneath the wooden lining.
Inside was a photograph.
Claire stood outside a private medical clinic beside a woman wearing a white coat.
I recognized the woman.
Dr. Evelyn Hart.
Vanessa's older sister.
My chest tightened.
"Why was Claire with Evelyn?"
Grace shook her head.
"I don't know."
Then she turned the photograph over.
A handwritten date appeared.
Six days before Noah's birth.
Beneath it, Claire had written:
She knows what Margaret promised them.
I stared at the words.
"What promise?"
Grace looked frightened.
Then my phone rang.
It was my head of security, Gabriel Torres.
His voice was tense.
"Boss, Vanessa's family has filed a complaint against Grace."
My jaw tightened.
"What kind of complaint?"
"They're alleging she assaulted Vanessa during an argument."
I stared at Grace.
She looked horrified.
"That's a lie."
"I know."
Gabriel hesitated.
"But there's more."
"What?"
"Vanessa has submitted surveillance footage."
My blood went cold.
"From my house?"
"Yes."
"And?"
Gabriel's voice dropped.
"The footage has been edited."
Then he revealed something that made the room turn cold.
"The original recording shows Margaret Cole standing behind the staircase when Vanessa slapped Grace."
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My mother had watched everything.
And done nothing.
