You believed that?
"You're lying," Austin said, his voice rough and low. Daniel let out a sharp laugh, resting his head on his palm with his elbow propped on the car. He looked at Austin with a smirk.
"Let me guess, she told you I left her? And what did you tell yourself when you divorced Dora? I told her about Paulina, but she trusted you. She stood by you. She swore you never looked at Paulina that way. And when she found out she was pregnant, she thought everything would finally make sense again," Daniel snapped.
"You knew?" Austin asked, stunned.
"That was the surprise she was planning for you. I was helping her. Funny, isn’t it? You and I divorced our partners at the same time," Daniel said, watching Austin’s face change.
"I was made to believe Dora was having an affair with you… and that the baby was yours," Austin said quietly.
Daniel froze. Then, without warning, he lunged at Austin, grabbing his collar and punching him hard, again and again.
"You bastard! Is that what you think of me? That I would sleep with your wife?" Daniel yelled. Austin didn’t fight back. He just took the hits, standing still like a man already broken.
Daniel finally stepped back and shoved him to the ground, breathing heavily.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” he shouted, running both hands through his hair in frustration.
“You believed that? Not just about me, but about Dora? She loved you, man. She loved you like mad."
Austin said nothing.
Daniel leaned against a nearby car, trying to calm his anger. After a long silence, Austin slowly stood and walked over.
"I’m sorry. I’m sorry I doubted you… and Dora. But I won’t take the blame for your divorce. I never wanted Paulina. Dora was the only one I ever loved. My mother... she played dirty. She ruined four lives. I already paid the price, I lost Dora."
Daniel didn’t reply for a while. Then he said, “So you never really knew Paulina.”
He turned his back to him.
“She told me you both had feelings for each other. She said you were leaving Dora for her, and if I ever loved her, even for a moment, I should let her be happy.”
"You know how much I loved her," Daniel added, voice low. "That’s why I signed the divorce papers. But what really broke me... was your silence. The last thing I said to her was that I never wanted to see either of you again."
As if Austin’s mind wasn’t already spinning from Dora’s sudden disappearance, this truth only added to the pain.
“Why?” he whispered. “Why did she lie? Why didn’t she tell me the truth, that you and Dora were never together? That she was the one who wanted a divorce?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Daniel replied coldly. “She wanted to get rid of Dora and me. She wanted you. And honestly, I wouldn’t be shocked if she planned it all with your mother.”
Austin's breath caught. If she planned this with his mother… then what about the rape?
George’s voice came back to him: “I didn’t do anything to her.”
Paulina had vanished after his mother was hospitalised. She returned only when Dora had left. She never called. Never filed a report. Never reached out.
And Austin felt like a fool.
Daniel stepped closer and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Don’t beat yourself up. If I were in your shoes, maybe I’d have done the same."
“I’m tired,” Austin muttered, rubbing his face with his hands. It showed in every line on his face.
“We should head inside. That woman’s still in serious condition,” Daniel said, patting his shoulder.
Then he paused. “Wait, isn’t she the same woman I saw with Dora and Douglas at the mall?”
Austin nodded.
And just like that, he remembered, he was supposed to call Douglas.
He pulled out his phone and dialed. Douglas picked up instantly.
“I’m on the next flight,” he said without hesitation.
Daniel stood quietly beside Austin, the tension between them melting into a heavy silence. After years of misunderstanding, lies, and hurt, they were finally here, side by side again. Daniel had spent so long holding a grudge, but now he knew the truth: Paulina had poisoned everything.
This was his way of letting go.
Sienna was still in surgery, and while they waited, Austin told Daniel everything he’d uncovered, everything except the one secret still too heavy to speak: Dora’s disappearance.
Daniel’s voice broke the silence first.
"Your mum was alone with Paulina?"
Austin nodded. "She was the one who called me."
Daniel narrowed his eyes. "What a coincidence."
"Dan, I know what you're thinking," Austin said quickly, reading the suspicion on his friend’s face. "But I don't think Paulina would go that far. We grew up together. She’s not the kind of person who could hurt someone."
Daniel shrugged. "Maybe not... but I’ve seen the way she looks at you. There’s madness in her eyes."
Austin opened his mouth to respond, but he stopped mid-sentence. His eyes locked on Dr. James rushing out of his office.
"Doctor?" Austin called, already moving toward him. A second later, the corridor outside his mother’s room exploded into chaos. The heart monitor was beeping wildly, and his father's face had gone pale.
Austin’s heart dropped.
He pushed past the nurses and ran to his mother’s side. Her body trembled uncontrollably, and panic gripped him. I didn’t ask for her forgiveness... I didn’t tell her I forgive you, his mind screamed.
“Prepare the OT, we’re taking her in now!” the doctor barked, but Austin couldn’t hear anything except the sound of his own fear.
"Ma, please," he sobbed, gripping her cold hand. "Don’t leave me. I’m already a mess. I need you."
"Mr. Jess, please step back!" came Dr. James’s voice again, but Austin held on tighter.
"You’re going to be a grandmother. You’ll hold my baby, right? Please, Ma, stay with me..." He dropped to his knees beside the bed, tears flowing down his face.
“Get him out!” someone shouted, and this time Daniel rushed forward, locking Austin in his arms to drag him away while he screamed for his mother.
Noah, watching his son fall apart, didn’t speak. He was fighting his own storm inside.
Outside the ward, as reality began to sink in, Austin slowly calmed down. Noah guided him to a chair in the waiting area while Daniel went to fetch them coffee.
The silence was thick. Austin’s mind wouldn’t stop racing. Paulina had been close to his mother. Too close. Her timing, her behavior, the way things fell apart one after the other… was it all really coincidence?
He looked up when Daniel handed him a paper cup. “You’re thinking too loud, mate,” Daniel said, trying to lighten the mood.
Austin didn’t smile. “Dan... how was Paulina with Dora? When I wasn’t around?”
Daniel hesitated. “Honestly? Paulina and Dora were nothing alike. Dora was open, easy to read. Paulina... she was always holding something back. She was polite in front of people, but I noticed Dora kept her guard up around her. Like she didn’t trust her, but didn’t want to cause drama, because of you.”
Daniel paused before adding, “Paulina’s had feelings for you for years. And we were too blind to see it.”
Neither spoke after that.
When a nurse finally stepped out of the OT looking for Sienna’s family, they stood up together, holding their breath.
“She’s out of danger,” the nurse said softly.
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