Chapter 3 - The Race Against Time
I stared at the glaring white screen of my laptop in absolute, paralyzing horror.
The forged medical logs were perfectly detailed, flawlessly mimicking my handwriting and my exact daily nursing schedule.
Every single time Bernard had supposedly suffered a miniature stroke, the logs showed I had administered his evening medication just minutes prior.
Gareth had not just been cheating on me with Tessa.
They had spent years meticulously building an ironclad legal case to frame me for the murder of my wealthy father-in-law.
"Once Bernard dies, Gareth inherits the entire estate, and you go directly to federal prison for medical malpractice and homicide," Elias explained quietly.
I closed the laptop, my hands shaking so violently I could barely grasp the plastic edges of the screen.
"Why didn't Bernard just go to the police?" I demanded.
"Gareth completely controls the local precinct, the judges, and the estate lawyers," Elias replied.
"Bernard knew the only way to expose them was to get this physical evidence out of the house, and you were the only person Gareth chronically underestimated."
I looked out the passenger window at the dark, blurring trees along the empty highway.
I had spent my entire marriage believing I was simply invisible and unimportant to my husband.
Instead, I was the perfect, oblivious scapegoat meticulously chosen for his monstrous greed.
Suddenly, the new burner phone in my pocket began to vibrate aggressively.
I pulled it out and saw a blocked number flashing brightly on the small screen.
"Do not answer that," Elias warned, swerving sharply into the left lane.
But my ingrained nursing instincts completely overpowered my sense of fear.
I pressed the green button and held the phone tightly to my ear.
"Irene," Tessa's voice purred through the speaker, dripping with absolute malice.
"How did you get this secure number?" I asked, keeping my voice remarkably steady.
"Gareth pays very clever people a lot of money to find things," she laughed softly.
"But I am not calling to gloat about your pathetic little runaway attempt."
I held my breath, silently waiting for the inevitable threat to drop.
"Bernard just took a terrible, heartbreaking turn for the worse," Tessa announced with fake, sickening sympathy.
"He had a massive, unexpected seizure right after you abruptly left the house."
My heart stopped entirely, knowing exactly what chemical she had injected into him.
"The paramedics are rushing him to Westport General Hospital right now, but they really don't think he will make it through the night," she continued.
She paused intentionally, letting the heavy, terrifying silence stretch between us.
"It is such a tragedy that his trusted nurse abandoned him on the exact night he suffered a fatal overdose," Tessa whispered.
The phone line went completely dead.
I looked up at Elias, my vision narrowing with pure, unfiltered rage.
"Turn this car around right now," I ordered.
"Are you insane?" Elias yelled. "They are literally waiting for you at the hospital to have you arrested!"
"If Bernard dies tonight, I lose the only living witness who can prove I am innocent," I fired back.
May you like
Elias slammed his hand violently against the steering wheel, but he aggressively spun the car around at the next highway median.
We were heading directly into Gareth's trap.
