Chapter 3
Three days later, I was wheeled to the NICU to see my son for the first time since delivery.
Cameron was already there.
He was standing in front of the incubator, his hands pressed against the glass.
He looked exhausted.
His tie was loose.
His face was pale.
He turned when he heard me approach.
"Amelia," he said. His voice was rough. "He's doing better today. They took him off the ventilator this morning."
I didn't answer.
I couldn't.
My eyes were locked on the tiny baby inside the plastic box.
He was so small.
Wires and tubes covered his fragile body.
A bandage wrapped around his tiny shoulder where the bone had broken.
My throat tightened.
Tears burned my eyes, but I wouldn't let them fall.
Not in front of Cameron.
The NICU nurse pulled back the curtain so I could touch him.
I reached in with a trembling hand.
My finger brushed his tiny, perfect fist.
He curled his fingers around mine.
And in that moment, every doubt vanished.
Every bit of pain, every betrayal, every heartbreak crystallized into one absolute resolve.
I would do anything for this little boy.
Anything.
"He's strong," the nurse said softly. "Just like his parents."
Cameron flinched.
I didn't.
"He's strong on his own," I said.
We stood there in silence for a long time.
Cameron kept glancing at me, like he was waiting for something.
Waiting for me to soften.
Waiting for the old Amelia to come back.
She wasn't coming.
"Amelia," he said eventually. "Can we talk? About... about what happens now. You said the marriage is over. But we have a son. We have to find a way to do this together."
"We will," I told him. "For him. But don't mistake civility for forgiveness. Don't mistake cooperation for reconciliation. Neither is ever going to happen."
His jaw tightened.
"You're being unreasonable," he said. The guilt in his voice was starting to curdle into defensiveness. "I made a mistake. One terrible mistake. I've apologized. I'm doing everything I can to make it right. How long are you going to punish me?"
"Punish you?" I turned to face him. My voice was ice. "You think this is punishment? Cameron, I am not punishing you. I am simply no longer willing to pretend that you are the man I thought you were. You broke something fundamental between us. You broke my trust. You put our son in danger. And now you stand here and complain that I'm not forgiving you fast enough?"
He looked away.
"I don't know how to fix this," he whispered.
"There is no fix," I said. "There is only moving forward. Separately."
I turned back to my son.
Cameron left without another word.
As he walked out, I saw Sophie waiting for him by the elevators.
She touched his arm.
He didn't pull away.
Something inside me hardened just a little more.
That afternoon, I got the call from risk management.
The security footage from my delivery room was ready.
They couldn't send it electronically.
I would have to have my legal counsel request official copies.
But the woman on the phone told me something that made my blood run cold.
"Dr. Grant," she said carefully. "The footage from that specific camera... it's corrupted. There was a system glitch that day. The file is unreadable."
Corrupted.
Glitch.
Unreadable.
I knew better.
Sophie had interned in IT before switching to medicine.
She knew her way around systems.
She knew how to cover her tracks.
"Thank you," I said calmly. "I appreciate you checking."
I hung up.
So she wanted to play dirty.
Fine.
I could play dirtier.
That evening, Nurse Marissa came to check my vitals.
She hesitated by the door.
"Dr. Grant," she said quietly. "I... I saw what happened in there. With the tray. She dug her nails into you. I saw it."
I looked at her.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
She looked down at her shoes.
"Dr. Bennett is... he's well-respected here. He's on the board. She's his favorite. I'm just a nurse. I couldn't afford to get involved. I have a mortgage. I have kids."
She looked up, her eyes pleading.
"But I can't keep quiet about it. Not after what happened. Not after watching you almost die. If you need someone to say something... I will."
I studied her.
I saw the fear in her eyes.
But I also saw the guilt.
And the courage it took for her to say this much.
"Thank you," I said. "Keep that thought to yourself for now. When the time comes, I may need you. Until then... say nothing. Act as if we never had this conversation."
She nodded quickly.
"Thank you," she whispered again.
She left.
I lay in bed and thought.
No security footage.
But I had a witness.
And Sophie had made a mistake.
She was arrogant.
She thought she had already won.
And arrogant people made careless mistakes.
The next morning, I asked to speak to the hospital administrator.
Cameron heard about it.
He stormed into my room, his face tight with anger.
"What are you doing?" he demanded. "Why are you talking to the administration? Are you trying to get me fired? To ruin my career?"
"I'm trying to understand how a security camera conveniently corrupted itself right when it would have shown the truth about what happened in my delivery room," I said calmly.
His anger faltered.
"What are you talking about?"
"The medication tray incident," I said. "The one where Sophie claims I knocked it over because I was in pain. The one you believed without question. The security footage from that room is corrupted. Isn't that interesting?"
He stared at me.
"You think Sophie had something to do with that?"
"She has a background in IT," I told him. "Did you know that? She did two years of computer science before switching to pre-med. She knows exactly how systems work. Exactly how to make things disappear."
"That's absurd," he said. But his voice lacked conviction. "She wouldn't do that. Why would she?"
"Why would she dig her nails into my arm until I jerked and knocked over that tray?" I countered. "Why would she stand there and lie to your face? Why would she come into my room and threaten me, Cameron? Why would she tell me that once I'm out of the picture, she'll be mother to our son?"
His face went white.
"She wouldn't," he whispered. "You're twisting things. You're traumatized. You're seeing things that aren't there."
But I saw the doubt creep into his eyes.
The first crack in his faith in her.
It was small.
But it was enough.
"Believe what you want," I said. "But I'm telling you the truth. And one day, you're going to have to face it. And when you do... you'll realize you destroyed our marriage, you put our son in danger, and you almost killed your wife... all for a liar."
He left without another word.
But he didn't go to Sophie this time.
I watched through the window as he walked past the elevators where she usually waited.
He went to his office instead.
And I smiled.
A cold, thin smile.
May you like
The first battle was won.
Now the real war could begin.
