Chapter 13 - The Last Person Olivia Trusted.
.For one moment, even Claire doubted Marcus.
Rebecca had delivered the sentence perfectly.
She knew exactly where to place it and exactly when.
Marcus looked at his wife with disbelief.
"Do not do this."
Rebecca laughed.
"Do what?"
"Make everyone look at me because you ran out of doors."
Victor remained silent.
That silence mattered.
Noah noticed it too.
"Mr. Sloan," he said, "is Dr. Hale involved?"
Victor looked at Marcus.
Then at Rebecca.
Rebecca's eyes warned him.
Victor looked away.
"No."
Rebecca's face hardened.
Marcus exhaled.
"Thank you."
Victor continued.
"Marcus was useful because he was careless, not because he was involved."
The words landed heavily.
Marcus closed his eyes.
Evan understood.
Rebecca and Victor had taken advantage of Marcus's hidden chart correction to build a false explanation for Olivia's collapse.
A mistake became cover.
A deleted video became confusion.
Claire in a red dress became the perfect accidental suspect.
Police officers arrived on the fourth floor moments later.
Noah handed over the recovered image, the recording from the archive hallway, and the preserved access logs.
Victor and Rebecca were separated for questioning.
No one was allowed to touch the archive files.
Evan thought the night might finally slow down.
Then Olivia woke again.
Dana called Evan from upstairs.
"She is asking for Claire."
Evan looked at Claire.
"Will you go?"
Claire hesitated.
Then she nodded.
They returned to Olivia's room together.
Olivia's eyes were open.
She saw Claire first.
"You came."
Claire moved beside the bed.
"Of course I came."
Olivia noticed Evan behind her.
Then she noticed Claire's cheek.
Her eyes narrowed.
"What happened?"
Claire glanced at Evan.
"A misunderstanding."
Evan stepped closer.
"No."
Claire looked at him.
Evan kept his voice steady.
"I made a terrible decision."
Olivia stared at him.
"You hit her?"
Evan did not hide behind softer words.
"Yes."
Olivia's disappointment was worse than anger.
"Then apologize later."
Evan nodded.
"Right now we need the drive."
Olivia looked at Claire.
"Did they find locker twelve?"
"They found the folder."
"Empty?"
"The drive was not there."
Olivia managed the faintest smile.
"Good."
Evan leaned closer.
"Where is it?"
Olivia looked toward the ceiling camera.
Then toward the broken-glass area, now sealed off with temporary barriers.
"Everybody watched the glass."
Claire frowned.
Olivia whispered, "Nobody watched the flowers."
Evan looked toward the bouquet of white lilies on the counter.
Claire reached for the vase.
Behind it sat a small plastic hospital gift tag.
The tag felt unusually thick.
Claire turned it over.
A tiny storage drive had been taped to the back.
Olivia closed her eyes again.
"I knew they would search my things."
Evan stared at the drive in Claire's hand.
"What is on it?"
Olivia whispered, "Enough to end the foundation board."
Then Claire noticed something printed on the tag beneath the tape.
It was a delivery name.
Not Olivia's.
Rebecca's accusation against Marcus was effective because it contained one piece of truth.
He had hidden a mistake.
Evan now understood how easily a real weakness could be wrapped inside a larger lie.
Claire asked Victor whether Rebecca had instructed him to target Marcus from the beginning.
Victor refused to answer, but his expression shifted toward Rebecca again.
That repeated glance told the investigators more than another denial would have.
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Marcus looked devastated, not because he had been framed completely, but because his own fear had supplied the frame with its strongest support.
The bouquet had been ordered by Victor Sloan.
