Daniel felt something crack open in his chest.
“Even now, even after nearly dying, she was worried about strangers.”
“Maria,” he said gently, pulling a chair close to her bed.
“I know about your father.”
Her eyes widened slightly, panic flickering across her face.
“I didn’t want it to matter.
I didn’t want the job because of who my father was.
I wanted to earn it.
You saved Daniel’s voice cut.
Your father saved my father’s life.
and you’ve been taking care of this family for three years and never said a word.
It wasn’t your family’s debt to pay,” Maria whispered.
“It was just something my father did because it was right.
He never wanted anything for it.
I didn’t either.
” Daniel had built a career on making fast decisions, but sitting there holding the hand of a woman who had almost died the night before because of his
fiance’s jealousy, he made the most important decision of his life without hesitation.
The wedding is off, he said quietly. I should have seen who Victoria really was a long time ago. I was too comfortable to look closely.
That’s on me.
Meanwhile, across the city, Victoria’s lawyer was already fielding calls.
Word had leaked that hospital security cameras near the loading dock, angled just enough to catch a partial view of the balcony through a reflection in the glass, had captured footage of the altercation.
It wasn’t perfectly clear, but it was enough.
enough to change everything. Victoria thought she could control the story.
She was about to find out she couldn’t control anything anymore.
By the time the police came to speak with Victoria Sinclair, she had already rehearsed her explanation a dozen times in front of the bathroom mirror. An accident.
A misunderstanding. Maria had gotten too
close to the edge on her own.
She would say she hadn’t touched her.
Not really. Not on purpose. But rehearsed lies fall apart quickly when real evidence exists.
The detective placed a tablet on the table between them and pressed play. The footage was grainy, partial, shot from an odd angle through a reflective window, but it clearly showed two figures on the balcony, one gesturing angrily, and then unmistakably the motion of one pushing the other.
