owed were a blur o

uzzed constantly with texts and missed calls from people I hadn

you okay? Wh

d at the gala. Is i

is Dr. Car

off. I would sit by the window in my room, staring out at the rain-drenched street, my mind a complete bla

rom the hallway, her face a mask of worry and confusion. They didn't know how to talk to me. Three years ago, they had believed the lies, believed I was unstable an

father one night from the other side of my door. "She d

was heavy with regret. "What if we were

e doctors abroad would help her. He said she needed

ed, his voice low. "He paid for everything, Helen. The treatmen

? The public humiliation? The heartbreak? No, this grief felt olde

bute to Dr. Ben Carter. I was sitting numbly in the living room when

let's watch s

aid, my voice r

missions, his compassion. He saved lives. He had rescued people from war zones, from natural disasters. The screen showed a brief clip of him

s Corporation, had made a massive donation to St. Jude's Ho

ooking solemn and philanthropic. The capti

aped my lips. It was a dry, u

d convinced myself that I didn't care about Ethan, about Emily, about a

ng him purchase a legacy for a man whose death was destro

recede, replaced by

drank it slowly, deliberately. The fog in my mind was beginning to clear.

the name Ben Carter