Chapter 12
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Ar dusk, Ezra strode back into the Ramsey residence, his footsteps crushing the dying embers of sunlight beneath him.
A medical report, reeking of disinfectant, was slammed hard against Maya’s face. The sharp edge of the paper left a red mark across her pale cheek. She flinched violently, shrinking into the leather sofa like a startled fawn.
“Serotonin levels–normal. Dopamine receptor activity–stable. Every indicator stated that you’re perfectly healthy.” Ezra’s voice was laced with ice. “Maya, you don’t have depression. Why did you lie to us?”
The room turned deathly silent.
Gabriel immediately snatched the report, crumpling it into a ball before throwing it into the trash. “Who the hell do you think you are, digging into Maya’s personal records? You can’t diagnose mental illness with a damn blood test-”
“Then how do you explain this?” Ezra threw down another document, this one stamped with a forged medical seal, as his eyes burned with fury.
“There is no psychiatrist named Adrian Dickson at that hospital. There is no record of Maya ever being treated. I also checked the surveillance footage, and she wasn’t even at the hospital that night
“She was in the bar district on the south side of town. She was never sick. She’s healthier than any of us.”
Maya suddenly clutched her temples. Her long lashes were wet with tears. “I haven’t been sleeping well… That night… I just went to get some melatonin…”
“Are you done with your act?”
Even now, she was still putting on a show after being completely exposed. Ezra’s rage surged to its peak, his chest rising and falling with barely restrained fury.
“You wanted to kill yourself, right?” His tone was mockingly calm.
With a clang, a military–grade knife landed on the coffee table. He continued, “This is imported. It’s razor–sharp.
“Go ahead. I’ll watch. Don’t worry. If you suddenly decide you don’t want to die, I’ll even call an ambulance for you.”
Maya’s face went stiff. She sat there frozen, completely overwhelmed by Ezra’s terrifying presence, barely daring to breathe.
“Enough!” Christopher’s furious roar shook the chandelier, sending the crystal pendants clinking in alarm.
“Ever since Gianna disappeared, you’ve been running around like a rabid dog, biting at anyone in sight. First, you ruined Maya’s banquet, and now you’re spewing all this nonsense. If anyone here is sick, it’s you.
“Get out. Now. Stop harassing my daughter!”
Gabriel also stood up furiously. “Ezra, even I think you’re being delusional. Just because you can’t find Gianna doesn’t mean you can take it out on Maya. She’s a patient, and this has nothing to do with her!”
Ezra stared at the father and son in disbelief. He had laid out irrefutable evidence, yet still, no one believed him. At that moment, he finally understood the kind of injustice Gianna
had endured in this house.
“You people are beyond saving.” Overwhelmed with rage, Ezra turned to leave.
Just as he reached the door, Gabriel muttered, “Dad, that woman may be gone, but she never actually handed over the patent certificate she promised to give Maya. Without it, won’t this cause problems for her school application?”
Christopher frowned. “She didn’t leave it? Wasn’t there a gift box on her desk?”
“I opened it. There was nothing inside except a tape recorder. No documents, nothing else.”
“A tape recorder? Why would she leave that?”
It was a casual conversation between father and son, something they hardly paid attention to. But Maya–seated on the sofa–suddenly stiffened. Her face was draining of color.
Her reaction did not escape Ezra’s notice.
Could it be? Was there something incriminating on that tape?
