“Stop, Rebecca. I already switched the bottles. He’s getting water now. And the sedative you’ve been adding to Lucas’s milk to make him seem sick? I found the vial on your dresser yesterday.”
My hands shook.
“You’re just staff,” Rebecca snapped. “No one will believe you. Daniel thinks Lucas’s condition is genetic. Once he’s declared unfit, I get custody. The money. Everything.”
“I’m not just staff,” Maya said quietly. She pulled a worn medallion from her pocket. “I was the nursing student on duty the night Isabella died. I was the last person she spoke to.”
Her voice cracked.
“She told me you tampered with her IV. She knew you wanted the Hawthorne name. Before she died, she made me promise that if she didn’t survive, I’d protect her children. I spent two years changing my name and appearance just to get into this house.”
Rebecca lunged.
I didn’t hesitate.
I ran down the hall and burst into the nursery as Rebecca raised her hand. I caught her wrist and met her eyes.
“The cameras are recording everything,” I said calmly. “And the police are already here.”
Rebecca’s arrest wasn’t the real ending. That came later, when the house finally fell quiet.