Chapter 4
Sophia stared at the security photograph.
Her hands began to tremble.
"No..."
"It can't be."
The woman standing at the medical records desk was wearing a hospital volunteer badge.
Her smile was unmistakable.
Vanessa Morgan.
Sophia's closest friend for nearly eight years.
The woman who had been her maid of honor in the wedding she had dreamed of.
The same woman who had held her hand after the diagnosis.
Who had cried with her.
Who had encouraged her to "be brave."
Who had even suggested...
"Maybe Ethan would be happier if he remembered you as the woman who walked away."
Sophia suddenly felt sick.
Ethan looked at the photograph.
"Vanessa?"
Rebecca nodded.
"Our investigation found that she entered the records department after visiting hours using a volunteer access card."
"She remained there for twenty-two minutes."
Dr. Harris frowned.
"Volunteers aren't authorized to access patient files."
"They aren't," Rebecca replied.
"But someone with staff credentials opened the secure archive for her."
She slid another document across the desk.
"We're still investigating who helped her."
Sophia could barely speak.
"Why would she do this?"
Rebecca looked uncomfortable.
"We don't know."
"But we recovered deleted emails from the hospital server."
"They suggest she specifically requested access to your medical records."
Ethan clenched his fists.
"This wasn't random."
"No."
Rebecca answered quietly.
"It appears you were the intended target."
Sophia's memories came flooding back.
Vanessa had insisted on driving her to every appointment.
She had always volunteered to collect prescriptions.
She had constantly asked about test results.
Whenever Ethan wanted to accompany Sophia...
Vanessa always found a reason to stop him.
"She'll feel guilty if you miss work."
"I'll take care of her."
"You've already done enough."
At the time...
It had seemed like kindness.
Now...
It looked like control.
"There has to be a reason," Ethan said.
Rebecca nodded.
"There is."
She opened another file.
"Our investigators discovered that Vanessa had recently applied for a senior marketing position."
Ethan frowned.
"So?"
Rebecca looked at Sophia.
"The position was at your company."
Sophia's expression changed.
The promotion.
Six months earlier, both women had applied for the same executive role.
Sophia had been selected.
Vanessa had not.
But they had remained friends.
Or so Sophia believed.
Rebecca continued.
"We also recovered text messages from Vanessa's phone through a court order."
She hesitated before reading them aloud.
'If Sophia disappears, Ethan will finally see who's always been there.'
The room went silent.
Another message.
'She always gets everything.'
Another.
'Career. Love. Family. I'm tired of losing to her.'
Sophia covered her mouth.
She couldn't reconcile those words with the woman she thought she knew.
Dr. Harris spoke quietly.
"The chemotherapy drugs caused unnecessary physical harm."
"But thankfully..."
"...because the treatment lasted only a short time..."
"...we expect you to recover."
Sophia nodded absently.
She wasn't thinking about the treatment anymore.
She was thinking about trust.
About betrayal.
About the person who had watched her cry after every appointment...
Knowing the diagnosis was false.
Just then...
Rebecca's phone rang.
She listened for several seconds before looking up.
"Security has located Vanessa."
"She came to the hospital thirty minutes ago."
Sophia frowned.
"Why?"
Rebecca's expression hardened.
"She requested copies of your updated records."
Ethan immediately stood.
"Take us to her."
Minutes later...
The elevator doors opened onto the administrative floor.
At the end of the corridor stood Vanessa.
She froze when she saw Sophia.
Her face drained of color.
"Sophia..."
"I can explain."
Sophia walked toward her slowly.
"You stood beside me while I planned my own funeral."
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
"I know."
"You helped me choose a hospice."
"I know."
"You watched Ethan propose..."
"...knowing I believed I was dying."
Vanessa began crying.
"I never wanted it to go this far."
Ethan's voice was cold.
"Then how far did you want it to go?"
Vanessa couldn't answer.
Instead...
She whispered something that shocked them both.
"I only wanted you to leave him."
Sophia stared at her.
"What?"
Vanessa finally looked up.
"I've loved Ethan since college."
"I loved him first."
"But he only ever looked at you."
She laughed bitterly through her tears.
"You had everything."
"The career."
"The family."
"The future."
"And him."
"I just wanted one chance."
Ethan shook his head in disbelief.
"So you convinced the woman I love that she was dying..."
"...because you thought I'd fall in love with you?"
Vanessa broke down completely.
"I thought..."
"...after she was gone..."
"...you'd eventually need someone."
The hallway fell silent.
Rebecca quietly signaled hospital security.
Two officers approached.
Vanessa didn't resist.
As they placed handcuffs on her wrists, she looked at Sophia one last time.
"I'm sorry."
Sophia's eyes filled with tears.
"No."
"You're sorry because your plan failed."
Vanessa lowered her head.
She said nothing else.
As security escorted her away, Ethan slipped his hand into Sophia's.
She held it tightly.
For months, they had believed fate had separated them.
Now they knew the truth.
It wasn't fate.
It was betrayal.
May you like
But as they watched Vanessa disappear down the hallway, neither of them realized there was one final surprise waiting downstairs—
one that would change this heartbreaking story into something neither of them had dared hope for.
