“Her accounts were moved under your control.
Her car’s location was monitored.
Your staff canceled two appointments she made without your permission.”
Daniel looked at Vincent.
“You’ve been digging through my private affairs.”
“We started ten minutes ago,” Vincent replied.
“You should be worried about what another hour will uncover.”
Daniel reached for his phone.
Raffael spoke quietly.
“Do not call the clinic.”
Daniel paused.
“That was not a request.”
The two men held each other’s gaze.
Daniel finally lowered the phone, but his thumb moved across the screen beneath his coat.
Vincent saw it.
“So did hospital security.”
A guard approached.
“Sir, you need to keep your hands visible.”
Daniel stared at him in disbelief.
“Do you know who I am?”
The guard answered, “Yes.”
The word landed harder than an insult.
Daniel had built his life on being recognized.
Tonight recognition was no longer protecting him.
The surgeon led Raffael toward the intensive-care unit.
Before entering, Raffael turned to Vincent.
“Preserve everything.”
Vincent nodded.
“Already happening.”
“And the townhouse?”
“Two men are outside.
No one enters until the authorities arrive.”
Daniel’s head snapped around.
“You have no right to touch my property.”
Raffael looked at him.
“Then you should hope the police find nothing.”
Evelyn lay unconscious behind glass, pale beneath a thin hospital blanket.
Tubes and wires surrounded her.
The machines beside her bed marked each fragile heartbeat.
For three years, Raffael had imagined seeing her again.
In none of those imaginings had she looked this small.
He sat beside the bed but did not touch her.
The last time they had spoken, Evelyn had accused him of making decisions for everyone around him.
She had said his protection felt like another kind of prison.
He had been furious then.
Later, he had understood.
So he remained in the chair with his hands clasped, waiting for her to choose whether he belonged there.
Hours passed.
Outside the room, Vincent worked through the night.
The clinic’s electronic records showed Evelyn had arrived shortly after six in the evening.
A physician ordered emergency imaging and transfer to a hospital.
Seven minutes later, Daniel called the clinic director.
The order vanished.
A discharge form appeared in its place.
The form claimed Evelyn refused further treatment.
But the signature was not hers.
