That unsettled Tiffany more than anger would have.
Because Katherine wasn’t searching for an exit.
She was watching.
Measuring.
Remembering who was present.
There was a difference between humiliation and evidence.
And Tiffany was creating plenty of evidence.
“You said Mark Thompson is your husband?” Katherine asked again.
Tiffany smirked.
“Finally getting nervous?”
Katherine reached into her pocket.
Dr. Chen stepped slightly closer.
“Let her call him,” he said quietly.
Katherine glanced at him.
“No.”
Then she looked back at Tiffany.
“I think I’ll do it myself.”
For the first time, Tiffany’s confidence flickered.
Katherine unlocked her phone.
Tapped a contact.
And pressed speaker.
The entire lobby seemed to lean toward the sound.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
Then the call connected.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Mark’s cheerful voice came through. “Did you land safely in Frankfurt?”
The silence that followed was absolute.
Katherine never took her eyes off Tiffany.
“Actually, Mark,” she said calmly, “I’m standing in our hospital lobby.”
Tiffany’s face changed.
The smugness disappeared first.
Then the color.
Katherine continued.
“And there’s a young woman here claiming to be your wife.”
Nobody moved.
Nobody whispered.
Even Tiffany seemed to forget her livestream was still running.
Several endless seconds passed.
Then Mark spoke.
“What… did you just say?”
Katherine’s expression remained perfectly composed.
A nurse near the admissions desk slowly lowered her tablet.
She recognized Katherine’s surname.
So did several administrators farther back.
Two security officers exchanged a look and started forward.
Katherine raised one hand.
“Don’t.”
They stopped.
That single command unsettled the room more than shouting ever could.
Because now people understood something Tiffany still didn’t.
Katherine wasn’t powerless.
She was waiting.
Mark’s voice came through again.
“Katherine… who is standing beside you?”
Tiffany took one small step backward.
For the first time, her phone lowered slightly.
Katherine glanced toward her.
Then the main lobby doors opened.
Three people entered.
Two senior hospital executives.
And between them—
the hospital’s chief legal counsel.
He carried a thick red folder beneath one arm.
His expression was grim.
He crossed the lobby without hesitation.
Past security.
Past Dr. Chen.
Past the staring guests and staff.
Straight toward Tiffany.
Her eyes dropped to the folder.
The last traces of confidence disappeared.
