CHAPTER 4 – THE POISON IN THE MEDICINE
CHAPTER 4 – THE POISON IN THE MEDICINE
Nathan ripped the bottle from Clara's hands.
"What are you talking about?"
She read the label twice.
Then a third time.
"This dosage is for someone twice Owen's weight."
Mrs. Ellis frowned.
"That's impossible."
"I gave him what arrived from the pharmacy."
Nathan looked at the bottle.
The pharmacy label carried Owen's full name.
Everything appeared normal.
Except...
The pills inside weren't.
Clara opened another bottle from the medicine tray.
She compared them.
Different colors.
Different markings.
Her voice became dangerously calm.
"Someone switched them."
Nathan felt ice spread through his veins.
"You're certain?"
"I worked in hospice before coming here."
"I've organized medications every day for years."
She held up both pills.
"These are not the same drug."
At that exact moment...
Owen lost consciousness.
"Dad..."
His whisper barely escaped.
Then his eyes rolled back.
Nathan caught him before he slipped from the wheelchair.
"Owen!"
The ambulance arrived in seven minutes.
They raced through flashing lights toward the hospital.
Nathan refused to let go of his son's hand.
Clara sat across from them.
She couldn't stop staring at the medication bottle.
One question kept repeating in her mind.
Who would do this?
At the hospital, doctors flooded the emergency room.
Dr. Pierce emerged twenty minutes later.
His expression was grim.
"Mr. Whitmore..."
Nathan stood instantly.
"My son?"
"The medication nearly stopped his heart."
Nathan grabbed the doctor's coat.
"Was it an accident?"
Dr. Pierce hesitated.
"We've already contacted the pharmacy."
"And?"
"They never filled this prescription."
Nathan slowly released him.
"What?"
"The prescription number is fake."
Silence.
Dr. Pierce lowered his voice.
"Someone created a counterfeit label."
Nathan's world tilted.
"So you're telling me..."
"Yes."
"Someone deliberately placed false medication in your son's home."
Nathan's fists clenched.
"No."
His voice was barely audible.
"No one wants a dying man dead."
Dr. Pierce didn't answer.
Because both of them knew...
Sometimes fourteen days was still too long for someone waiting to inherit millions.
As Nathan struggled to process the revelation, his phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke only one sentence.
"You should have let your son die quietly."
The call disconnected.
Nathan slowly lowered the phone.
Across the waiting room...
Clara watched his face change.
She knew immediately.
This was no accident anymore.
May you like
Someone wasn't waiting for Owen to die.
Someone was making sure he never lived long enough to discover what Grace had hidden.
