Chapter 514 Burning the Evidence
In the hospital room.
Gabrielle stood behind Felix, watching nervously as he took the phone call. Felix gripped the receiver with white knuckles, pacing frantically across the small room while interrogating whoever was on the other end.
"What the hell is wrong with you? You lost Yvette's drug trial records!" Felix's face contorted with rage, veins bulging at his temples.
The doctor's trembling voice crackled through the phone. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hayes. I swear I put them away safely. They just vanished into thin air. Please don't be angry!"
"Don't be angry? How can I not be furious!" Felix hissed into the receiver. "Those drugs were tested on Yvette's own body while we risked everything—the entire Hayes family legacy! Do you have any idea how invaluable that data is? We still don't know what's happening with the Swift Family, or whether they'll even give us the antidote. If the deal with the Swifts falls through and we've lost Yvette's trial records, and Clifford can't be cured—I swear I'll destroy you!"
"Mr. Hayes, please listen!" The doctor's voice shook as he tried to calm Felix down. "The physical records may be gone, but I remember most of the details. As long as the research team's drug logs are intact, I can recall which medications worked and at what dosages. Please don't panic."
Felix's fury remained unabated. "I hired you to solve problems, not create them! You'd better figure out how to fix this mess!"
Gabrielle finally snapped, snatching the phone from Felix's hand. "You need to find out exactly where that notebook went! If it falls into Albert's hands, we're all finished. Dead and buried."
Before Gabrielle could finish, heavy knocking echoed through the room, sharp and intrusive.
Gabrielle froze mid-sentence, her eyes darting toward the door before meeting Felix's alarmed gaze. Both their faces turned to stone, surprise and confusion flickering in their eyes.
Who could it be at this hour?
Felix quickly reclaimed the phone, whispering urgently, "Find it. Now!" He hung up and moved slowly toward the door.
They were in a hospital, and their assistant was out investigating the Swift Family situation. Who would be knocking at this time?
"It's not Clifford, is it?" Gabrielle's voice trembled with barely contained panic. "He didn't hear what we were just saying, did he?"
Felix raised his hand, signaling for calm as he approached the door and slowly turned the handle.
The moment they saw Clifford, both Felix and Gabrielle froze. Neither spoke, their eyes boring into Clifford's face, searching for any telltale signs of what he might have overheard.
Both parents instinctively clenched their fists, terrified that Clifford had caught their conversation. This was their biological son, the child they'd raised from infancy, and they knew his gentle nature better than anyone.
Someone as kind and righteous as Clifford would be devastated if he discovered that his parents had used Yvette as a human test subject to keep him alive—even going so far as to terminate her pregnancy. After all, he was already angry with them just for thinking Yvette was being forced to stay and keep him company.
If Clifford learned the full extent of their unconscionable acts, the consequences would be catastrophic.
"Clifford, sweetheart, what brings you here?" Gabrielle forced herself to sound casual despite her inner turmoil. "Why aren't you resting in your room? You're still weak—you shouldn't be wandering around."
Clifford appeared perfectly normal, offering a gentle smile. "I felt a bit better today, so I thought I'd take a walk and check on you both. Are you busy?"
"Yes, actually!" Felix jumped in quickly. "Just some work stuff today. Your mother keeps pestering me with questions—it's driving me up the wall. Why don't you let her take a walk with you instead?"
"No need. If you have work to do, I'll head back to my room. I am getting tired anyway." Clifford waved them off and turned to leave.
Felix and Gabrielle exchanged meaningful glances before Gabrielle called out, "Be careful on your way back. Take your time."
"Will do." Clifford closed the door behind him.
Felix and Gabrielle stood rigid, watching Clifford leave, both consumed with anxiety. After several minutes, Felix cracked the door open and peered down the hallway, confirming Clifford was truly gone before turning back.
"He hasn't figured it out yet," Felix said grimly. "We need to use this opportunity to burn all the remaining records!"
"What records?" Gabrielle panicked. "Which ones need burning? Didn't the doctor say his copies were already missing?"
"Yvette's abortion records and all her medical reports!" Felix rummaged frantically through files. "Clifford can never know about any of this!"
Only then did Gabrielle realize that everything they'd done was documented in black and white.
While Gabrielle stood stunned, Felix had already located all the incriminating records. He gathered the entire stack and threw it down in front of her.
Night had fallen deep, moonlight filtering through the curtain gaps to illuminate one corner of the room while tension and panic suffocated the space.
Felix's face had gone ashen, his hands trembling as he stared at the pile of papers—all of Yvette's medical records documenting her condition after the explosion, every surgery performed, every drug administered. These papers were evidence of their crimes.
They loved Clifford deeply and would do anything for him, even if it meant betraying their own conscience. But if Clifford ever discovered these documents, they had no doubt he would cut ties with them forever.
Felix picked up the first sheet with shaking hands and fed it to the flames. Fire leaped up instantly, devouring the paper and reducing it to ash.
Felix knew these records could no longer exist—he couldn't let the son he cherished spend his life hating them.
One by one, papers disappeared into the fire as smoke and the acrid smell of burning documents filled the room.
Looking at the mountain of records still to be destroyed, Gabrielle covered her nose and mouth, coughing as her eyes watered from the smoke. "Felix, what's the point of burning these? The truth will come out eventually. Albert's no fool, and neither is Clifford! If Clifford knew we did everything for him, he wouldn't blame us."
"Shut up!" Felix's cold rebuke cut through her words like a blade. He fixed Gabrielle with a steely stare, speaking with deliberate warning. "Don't you dare say another word. We never used Yvette for drug trials—we were searching everywhere for medicine to save her!"
Gabrielle's eyes flashed with bewilderment before she fell silent.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
