Another presence lingered closer to my bed, perfumed and calculating. “We can breathe now,” whispered Olivia Grant, Adrian’s executive assistant and lover, as she squeezed his hand. “Everything belongs to you now, darling.”
They believed they were alone with a corpse.
They were wrong.
Dr. Harold Bennett removed his mask with deliberate calm, his eyes flicking toward mine for the briefest fraction of a second before he addressed them with measured authority. “Despite our efforts, we were unable to stabilize Mrs. Callahan,” he said evenly. “However, there is additional information you must hear.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened. “What else could possibly matter?”
Dr. Bennett continued without hesitation. “The delivery produced unexpected complications, but it was successful. There are twins.”
Silence detonated across the room.
“Twins?” Adrian repeated, his voice cracking in disbelief rather than joy. “All ultrasounds confirmed a single child.”
“Medicine does not always predict nature perfectly,” Dr. Bennett replied. “You have a son and a daughter. They are currently in neonatal intensive care.”