Chapter 12 - THE TEST RESULTS
The laboratory results arrived before noon.
Dr. Hayes read them twice before speaking.
“The substance was a cardiovascular toxin.”
Sophia closed her eyes.
“How long?”
“Another few days could have caused permanent damage. A little longer, and she might not have survived.”
Matteo's fists tightened.
He looked toward Emma.
The child was coloring quietly in the corner.
One small girl had noticed what every adult had ignored.
Dr. Hayes continued, “There is something else. The dosage was carefully controlled.”
Matteo frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“Whoever administered it understood exactly how much Sophia could tolerate without immediately collapsing.”
Sophia shivered.
“Evelyn knew.”
“Yes,” Daniel said. “But someone taught her.”
Matteo's eyes hardened.
“Vincent.”
The doctor nodded.
“The evidence points that way.”
For twenty years, Matteo had believed his uncle was merely manipulative.
Now he understood something darker.
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Vincent had studied human weakness like a science.
And Sophia had survived only because a three-year-old girl refused to stop watching.
