“No.”
Nico stirred against her.
Matteo moved as if to steady her but stopped before touching her.
Liana looked at Dr. Sloan.
“They told me he had complications.”
Dr. Sloan’s expression softened.
“That may still be true.”
“But they lied about something.”
“Yes.”
Liana’s breathing became uneven.
“Could what they did have killed him?”
Dr. Sloan hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Liana turned away.
She walked to the window and pressed one hand to the glass.
Outside, sunlight spread across carefully trimmed lawns. Gardeners moved in the distance. Cars passed beyond the estate gates.
The world looked ordinary.
Her life had ended twenty-two days ago.
And now she was being told that perhaps it had not ended because of chance.
Perhaps someone had made a decision.
Someone had signed a form.
Someone had moved her baby down a corridor while she trusted them.
Behind her, Matteo spoke.
“Liana.”
She did not turn.
“I left the room for coffee.”
No one responded.
Her voice shook.
“Ten minutes. Maybe twelve. The nurse told me he was stable. I left for twelve minutes.”
Matteo understood immediately.
He had done the same thing.
He had stayed beside Elena while Nico was taken for observation.
For months he had asked himself whether choosing his wife meant abandoning his son.
Now both choices seemed poisoned.
Liana looked at him.
“They count on that, don’t they?”
Matteo’s jaw tightened.
“On what?”
“Parents being scared enough to trust them.”
He had no answer.
By two in the afternoon, Dominic found the next break.
Dr. Adrian Bell had resigned from St. Catherine’s eight days after Liana’s baby died.
No farewell.
No forwarding practice.
No public explanation.
His medical license remained active, but he had not seen a documented patient since.
Matteo ordered his people to locate him.
They found Bell’s apartment empty.
Closets cleared.
Phone disconnected.
Vehicle sold three days earlier.
