Chapter 6: The Doctor's Final Prescription
St. Catherine's Hospital stood on the northern edge of the city.
It was a modern building with polished floors, glass walls, and an enormous reception desk that smelled faintly of disinfectant.
Elena arrived with Richard, Marcus, and Thomas.
She had barely slept.
Harrison's phone call had changed everything.
If Chloe had been present when Margaret died, then the affair might have been connected to a crime that had begun long before Elena's marriage.
And if Dr. Samuel Carter had ordered Harrison to marry her, then the betrayal had been planned from the beginning.
Richard approached the reception desk.
“We need access to the medical records of Margaret Sinclair.””
The receptionist checked the computer.
“I'm sorry. That file is restricted.””
Richard presented his identification.
“We have authorization from the estate's legal representatives.””
The receptionist shook her head.
“The file was transferred to medical administration.””
“Who authorized the transfer?””
“I don't have that information.””
Marcus leaned forward.
“Can you tell us when it happened?””
The receptionist hesitated.
“Yesterday afternoon.””
Elena looked at Richard.
“Yesterday?””
Richard nodded.
“Someone knew we were coming.””
A man in a white coat approached them.
“Can I help you?””
Elena recognized him from an old family photograph.
Dr. Samuel Carter.
He had aged considerably, but his carefully groomed gray hair and warm smile were unchanged.
“Dr. Carter,” she said.
He looked surprised.
“Elena?””
She did not return his smile.
“We need to talk about my grandmother.””
His expression shifted.
“Of course. I'm very sorry for your loss.””
“She died three years ago.””
“I know.””
“Then why are you apologizing now?””
The doctor glanced toward Richard.
“Perhaps we should speak somewhere private.””
He led them into a consultation room.
Once the door closed, Elena placed a photograph of Margaret on the table.
“What happened to her?””
Dr. Carter looked at it.
“Your grandmother was very ill.””
“That's not what I asked.””
“She had advanced cardiac disease.””
“Her death certificate says heart failure.””
“That is correct.””
Marcus placed a document beside the photograph.
“Then perhaps you can explain why the original medical file was removed yesterday.””
The doctor stared at the document.
His expression remained composed, but his fingers tightened around the edge of his desk.
“Medical files are sometimes transferred for administrative review.””
“Who requested it?”” Richard asked.
Dr. Carter adjusted his glasses.
“I would have to check.””
Elena leaned forward.
“Did you know Harrison before he married me?””
The doctor looked up.
“Of course. He was your husband.””
“Before that.””
A pause.
“I may have met him socially.””
“Where?””
“I don't remember.””
Elena placed another photograph on the table.
It showed Harrison and Dr. Carter standing outside a private club.
The date was printed beneath the image.
Seven years earlier.
One year before Elena's wedding.
The doctor's face lost some color.
“Where did you get that?””
“Does it matter?””
He stood.
“This conversation is becoming inappropriate.””
Richard remained seated.
“Please sit down, Doctor.””
“I have patients waiting.””
Marcus moved toward the door.
“Then this should be quick.””
He displayed a bank transfer on his laptop.
The payment had been made from Northbridge Holdings to a private account registered under Dr. Carter's name.
The date was three weeks before Margaret's death.
The amount was $180,000.
Elena looked at the doctor.
“What did Harrison pay you for?””
Dr. Carter said nothing.
Then he slowly sat down.
“You don't understand what happened.””
“Then help me understand.””
He looked toward the window.
“Your grandmother was not an easy woman.””
Elena's eyes narrowed.
“That isn't an answer.””
“She controlled everything. Her businesses, her properties, her employees. She had no intention of letting anyone make decisions without her approval.””
“And?””
“Harrison approached me because he believed the trust should be reorganized. He said Margaret was becoming increasingly unstable.””
Elena almost laughed.
“My grandmother negotiated million-dollar deals until the week she died.””
“She was ill.””
“She was sharp.””
Dr. Carter lowered his voice.
“She was afraid.””
“Of what?””
He hesitated.
“Of losing control.””
Richard leaned forward.
“Doctor, did you alter her medication?””
The silence that followed was deafening.
Elena felt her heart pound.
Dr. Carter looked at him.
“I followed medical instructions.””
“Whose instructions?””
“My own.””
Marcus opened another file.
“According to the pharmacy records, Margaret received a prescription for a medication that was contraindicated with her existing heart treatment.””
Dr. Carter's face turned pale.
“That was a temporary adjustment.””
“Who requested it?””
“No one.””
Elena stared at him.
“Did you poison my grandmother?””
The doctor stood so abruptly that his chair fell backward.
“I will not tolerate this!””
Richard rose.
“Then perhaps you should explain the discrepancy in the prescription records.””
Dr. Carter grabbed the file.
He flipped through several pages.
Then his expression changed.
The final page contained a handwritten authorization.
A signature.
Margaret Sinclair.
Elena recognized it immediately.
But something was wrong.
The signature looked almost perfect.
Almost.
Her grandmother always wrote the letter M with a distinctive upward stroke.
This signature did not.
“That's a forgery,” Elena whispered.
Dr. Carter looked at her.
“You can't prove that.””
Richard collected the document.
“We can arrange handwriting analysis.””
The doctor backed away.
“You're making a serious mistake.””
Marcus opened the consultation room door.
Two uniformed officers stood outside.
“Dr. Carter,” one said, “we need you to accompany us.””
The doctor looked at Elena.
For the first time, his professional mask completely disappeared.
“You have no idea what your grandmother did to this family.””
Elena stepped closer.
“What did she do?””
“She destroyed Victoria's life. She drove Daniel away. She built her fortune by taking what belonged to other people.””
“Then why did you help Harrison?””
Dr. Carter laughed bitterly.
“Because he promised to restore the family to its rightful owners.””
Elena's expression hardened.
“Who are the rightful owners?””
The doctor looked directly into her eyes.
“The Sinclair family never belonged to your grandmother alone.””
Before anyone could ask another question, he was escorted from the room.
Richard immediately instructed the officers to preserve the medical records.
Marcus contacted the hospital administration.
But Elena could not stop thinking about the doctor's final statement.
The Sinclair family never belonged to Margaret alone.
What had her grandmother taken?
And from whom?
They were leaving the hospital when a nurse approached.
“Mrs. Whitmore?””
Elena turned.
“Yes?””
The nurse looked nervous.
“My name is Sarah. I worked in the cardiac ward when your grandmother was admitted.””
Elena's heart began racing.
“What do you know?””
Sarah glanced toward the corridor.
“Your grandmother asked me to deliver something to you if anything happened to her.””
Richard stepped closer.
“What is it?””
The nurse removed a small key from her pocket.
It was attached to a silver tag engraved with the number 317.
“She told me never to give this to anyone except you.””
Elena accepted it.
“What does it open?””
Sarah swallowed.
“Storage locker 317. In the hospital's old underground archive.””
Marcus frowned.
“The hospital closed that section years ago.””
Sarah nodded.
“That's why nobody has looked inside.””
Elena examined the key.
“Why didn't you give it to me earlier?””
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
“Because the day after your grandmother died, Dr. Carter came to my house. He told me that if I ever mentioned the key, my younger brother would lose his job.””
Elena stared at her.
“What?””
“He knew where my brother worked. He knew his children's school. I was terrified.””
Elena gently took Sarah's hand.
“You did the right thing by coming forward.””
The nurse wiped her eyes.
“There's something else.””
“What?””
“Your grandmother wasn't alone when she died.””
Elena went still.
“Who was with her?””
Sarah looked toward the hospital entrance.
“Your husband.””
Richard's expression changed.
“Harrison?””
“Yes.””
“But Harrison said he was out of the country.””
Sarah shook her head.
“He came into the ward shortly before midnight. I saw him arguing with your grandmother.””
Elena felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath her.
“What were they arguing about?””
Sarah lowered her voice.
“Your grandmother kept saying that he had to tell Elena the truth.””
“What truth?””
“I don't know. But I heard Harrison say something before he left.””
Elena's fingers tightened around the key.
“What did he say?””
Sarah looked directly at her.
“He said, ‘If she finds out who her real mother is, everything will fall apart.’”
Elena stopped breathing.
Her real mother?
Her mother had died when Elena was three.
At least, that was what Margaret had always told her.
Elena looked at Richard.
He seemed equally stunned.
“That's impossible,” she whispered.
Sarah shook her head.
“I heard him clearly.””
Elena looked down at the key.
317.
A locked storage unit in a hospital archive.
A dead grandmother.
A forged prescription.
A hidden aunt.
A brother who might still be alive.
And now a question about the woman who had given birth to her.
Richard placed a hand on her shoulder.
“We should retrieve whatever is inside that locker.””
Elena nodded.
They returned to the hospital's basement.
A security guard reluctantly opened the old archive corridor after Richard presented the necessary documents.
The air smelled of dust and damp concrete.
At the end of the hallway stood a row of metal lockers.
Number 317 was near the corner.
Elena inserted the key.
It turned with a soft metallic click.
Inside was a small wooden box, a bundle of letters, and an old hospital bracelet.
She lifted the bracelet.
The name printed on it made her hands shake.
*ELENA SINCLAIR.*
The date was thirty-one years earlier.
Beneath it was another name.
*MOTHER: VICTORIA SINCLAIR.*
Elena stared.
The woman who had appeared at the mansion that morning was not merely her aunt.
She was listed as her mother.
Richard slowly picked up the bundle of letters.
“Mrs. Whitmore…”
Elena could barely hear him.
“Read it.””
He opened the first envelope.
It contained a letter written by Margaret.
To the person who finds this,
Elena was not born to the woman she has been told is her mother.
Victoria gave birth to her, but I raised her as my own because I believed it was the only way to protect her.
I took Elena from Victoria after discovering what her husband had done. I thought I was saving a child from a dangerous family.
But I made a terrible mistake.
Elena deserves to know that the woman she has spent her entire life grieving was never her biological mother.
Elena's knees weakened.
Her mother had been Margaret.
But her biological mother was Victoria.
She looked at the remaining letters.
One was addressed to Victoria.
Another was addressed to Daniel.
And the last bore her own name.
Elena opened it.
Inside was a single sentence.
My darling Elena, if you have found this letter, then I have failed to protect you from the truth about your birth.
She read the next line.
Your biological father is alive.
Elena's breath caught.
The final sentence was written in darker ink.
And he is the man you have been calling your husband.
The letter slipped from her fingers.
Richard stared at her.
Marcus slowly stepped backward.
Thomas covered his mouth.
Elena shook her head.
“No…”
May you like
But the name written beneath the sentence was unmistakable.
*HARRISON WHITMORE.*
