Brandon dragged Vanessa into an empty exam room and slammed the door behind them with a deafening
bang.
Vanessa stumbled back but quickly regained her balance. “Brandon,” she whimpered, reaching out to tug on
his sleeve.
He stepped back, avoiding her touch. “When my mom wakes up, you’ll look her in the eye–and tell her everything yourself.”
Tears welled up in Vanessa’s eyes instantly. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. Please, believe me.”
“Shut up.” Brandon turned toward the hallway.
Then came a sound–faint but distinct from the direction of his mother’s hospital bed.
She was awake.
Doctors rushed in for an emergency check. Brandon stood at her bedside, watching her chapped lips move with great effort.
“It was Vanessa,” Mrs. Caldwell rasped. “She pushed me… a poisonous little snake.”
“I know.” Brandon handed her a cup of water. “It’s all on the surveillance footage.”
Olivia suddenly grabbed his wrist. “Is Evelyn… really gone?” Her eyes were glassy. Her voice hoarse. “Didn’t
think I’d say this, but… she took better care of me than anyone ever did.”
Brandon stiffened.
He hadn’t expected her to bring up Evelyn at all—especially now.
Dr. Jacobs hesitated beside them. “Mr. Caldwell… about Evelyn’s treatment back then…”
“What about it?”
“The electroshock sessions,” Dr. Jacobs leaned in, lowering his voice, “Miss Hale claimed it was on your orders–the voltage increase,”
Brandon shot to his feet. “I never gave that order.”
The doctor hastily handed over a tablet.
On the screen, Evelyn was strapped to a treatment bed, her face pale as death.
From off–camera, Vanessa’s voice rang clear: “Turn it up again. Mr. Caldwell wants her to remember this
lesson.”
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“That’s not me,” Brandon’s voice cracked. “When was this recorded?”
“The day after you checked her in,” Dr. Jacobs said nervously. “Miss Hale said those few days required special attention.”
Brandon stood frozen.
He remembered picking Evelyn up that day–how she’d been curled up in the corner, trembling, barely able
to look at him.
He hadn’t thought much of it.
His fist slammed into the wall.
“Brandon!” Vanessa’s scream echoed from the hallway. “I didn’t mean it–I swear!”
Brandon stormed out and seized her by the arm.
“You ordered electroshock on her?” His voice shook with rage.
Vanessa frantically shook her head. “It was your mom! She told me to! You have to believe me!”
“Oh really?” Brandon yanked her toward the psych ward. “Did she also tell you to fake the video? To lie and say I gave the orders?”
The nurses scattered from the hallway.
Brandon slammed Vanessa down onto the treatment bed and barked to the doctors, “Do it.”
Inside the room, Vanessa’s body was already restrained.
Her long hair splayed messily across the white sheets.
“Ready?” Dr. Jacobs asked quietly.
Vanessa began thrashing. The straps cut into her wrists as she struggled. “Brandon! I get it–I know I messed up–please-”
The machine crackled to life.
Vanessa’s back arched like a bowstring snapping, her body convulsing under the surging current. Her scream was muffled by the mouthguard, her sobs and gasps guttural and raw.
Her fingers clawed at the sheets, her dress clinging to her sweat–soaked body.
Brandon watched in silence, expressionless.
And then, for a moment, he saw Evelyn lying there instead.
Chapter 16
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Strapped down. Suffering. No one there to save her.
Just like back then, when Evelyn lay bound and silent–suffering in the shadows, while he stood blind in the
light.
“Increase the voltage,” he said coldly.
Vanessa’s eyes flew wide in horror. She thrashed harder, shaking her head wildly. But it was too late–the higher current slammed through her, making her convulse like a fish out of water. Snot and tears streaked
down her face.
Brandon thought back to that day–how Evelyn had been sitting quietly in the corner, so pale, so silent.
How she had flinched the moment she saw him.
Why hadn’t he noticed?
Why hadn’t he seen what she’d gone through?
“Stop.” His voice came out low and strained.
Vanessa collapsed against the bed, gasping for breath. Her eyes were glassy, her body limp, all pretense of
composure gone.
“Mr. Caldwell,” Dr. Jacobs asked, “Do we… continue?”
Brandon nodded. “Keep her here. Two days.”
He paused.
“The same way she did to Evelyn.”
Outside the hospital, Brandon looked up at the sky. A decision hardened in his chest.
When this was over, he would find Evelyn.
Even if she hated him.
Even if she never forgave him.
He needed to say those words to her–face to face.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. A new message from his assistant lit up the screen: “We’ve traced Miss Parker to a small town in the South.”
Brandon gripped the phone tightly.
For the first time in a long while… He felt a sliver of hope.
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