CHAPTER 3 — The Hospital Door Opens
St. Matthews Hospital was too bright for what Emma was going through.
Machines beeped softly. Nurses moved quickly. The world felt distant, like sound underwater.
But outside her room—
Chaos was already building.
Brian stood in the hallway, pacing.
Carol sat perfectly still, arms crossed.
Vanessa filmed everything.
“I didn’t abandon her,” Brian said sharply to a nurse. “She refused to come with us.”
A nurse frowned. “Sir, she was in active labor on a highway.”
Carol cut in immediately.
“She always exaggerates. Always has.”
Then—
A sound interrupted them.
A TV mounted on the hallway wall flickered on.
At first, no one noticed.
Then the audio played.
Vanessa’s voice.
Brian’s voice.
Carol’s laughter.
The SUV recording—clear, undeniable.
A silence spread through the hallway like a physical force.
A doctor slowly turned toward Brian.
“You want to explain that?”
Brian didn’t answer.
May you like
Because behind him, a man in a dark suit had just arrived.
And he wasn’t alone.
