secrets behind closed doors

Chapter 10

Secrets Behind Closed Doors

It was another day of waking up in the hospital for Judith. The atmosphere inside remained dark and tense.

Judith sat up slowly against the hospital bed while the female doctor adjusted her pillow carefully.

“You should not force yourself too much,” the doctor warned softly. “Your body is still recovering.”

Judith barely listened.

“Any news about Lily?”

The room became silent.

The silence terrified her.

Lily is her everything.

Dan stood near the window with tired eyes. He had not slept all night.

“We’re still searching,” he said carefully.

Judith’s chest tightened immediately. “Still?”

“We’ll find her.”

“But where is she?” she cried weakly. “Why hasn’t anyone called? Why hasn’t anyone asked for money at least?. I will give my all”

Dan could not answer.

He had no words to explain to her.

This kidnapping felt strange, planned and like a dream.

Ethan entered the room quietly carrying coffee and food. His clothes were rough from the long night.

“I brought breakfast,” he said softly.

Judith looked at him desperately. “Did you find anything?”

Ethan forced pain into his expression. “Not yet.”

For one second, guilt hit him again.

He hated seeing Judith like this.

But every time he remembered Dan touching her hand or standing beside her bed, anger returned.

He moved closer carefully. “You need strength if you want to help Lily.”

Judith suddenly grabbed his wrist tightly.

“Did she cry when they took her?”

The question froze him completely.

Images of Lily crying inside the van flashed through his mind.

Ethan swallowed hard. “I… I don’t know.”

Judith slowly released him and turned away.

The female doctor watched Ethan carefully.

Something about him felt wrong.

Not his words but his reaction.

Every emotion looked slightly delayed, like he was acting instead of feeling.

After checking Judith’s medicine, the doctor quietly left the room.

Outside, she opened Judith’s medical file again.

Her eyes narrowed immediately.

Several documents were missing.

Some test records had been deleted overnight.

“What the hell is going on …” she whispered.

Someone had entered the system after midnight.

And whoever did it specifically removed information connected to Judith’s poisoning.

The doctor quickly looked around the empty hallway before printing backup copies secretly.

Inside another part of the hospital, Juliana sat alone in the cafeteria staring at her phone.

The anonymous messages continued arriving.

We know about Dan’s hidden accounts.

We know about the illegal contracts you both pulled together.

Help us and you’ll be protected.

If not, you both will face it together.

Her fingers tightened around the phone.

Suddenly, someone pulled out the chair across from her.

Elena.

“You look terrible,” Elena said calmly.

Juliana laughed bitterly. “Wonderful evening, wasn’t it?”

Elena leaned back quietly. “You still love him.”

Juliana’s expression hardened instantly. “No.”

“You hate Judith more than you hate Dan.”

That silence became the answer.

Elena smiled faintly. “Hatred makes people useful.”

Across the city, Lily sat quietly near the apartment window while Erica brushed her hair gently.

“You’re very pretty,” Erica said softly.

Lily looked down. “Mommy says that too.”

Erica’s hand paused briefly.

Then she smiled again.

“Your mommy says many things.”

Lily frowned slightly. “What does that mean?”

Erica sat beside her slowly.

“Sometimes adults pretend to love people.”

“That’s not true.”

“Your mommy left you alone in the hospital.”

Lily hugged her teddy tightly. “She was sick.”

“But she still chose another man over you.”

Lily’s small face became confused again.

Erica noticed it immediately.

The seeds of doubt were growing.

And once children started doubting love, it became easy to shape their hearts.

Back at the hospital, Dan stood outside Judith’s room speaking quietly on the phone.

“I want every security camera checked again.”

He listened carefully before his expression darkened.

“What do you mean footage is missing?”

A long silence followed.

Then he ended the call slowly.

Someone deleted part of the hospital recordings.

That could not be an accident.

As he turned around, he noticed Ethan standing nearby.

“Any updates?” Ethan asked.

Dan stared at him for several seconds before answering.

“Some footage disappeared.”

Ethan forced himself to remain calm. “Maybe the system failed.”

“just maybe”

There was tension between them.

Ethan crossed his arms. “You think I had something to do with this?”

Dan stepped closer.

“I think too many strange things happened in one night.”

“And you’re blaming me because Judith almost died?”

Dan’s eyes darkened slightly. “I’m blaming whoever is hiding something.”

For a brief second, Ethan almost confessed everything.

Not because he regretted kidnapping Lily.

But because he suddenly realized how dangerous the situation had become.

His father was involved.

The poisoning was real.

And Judith could die for reasons that had nothing to do with him.

Before either man spoke again, the female doctor approached quietly.

“Mr. Dan,” she said carefully. “Can I speak with you alone?”

Ethan watched them walk away down the hallway.

His jaw tightened.

Inside a private office, the doctor closed the door softly.

“Judith’s poisoning wasn’t random,” she said directly.

Dan’s expression hardened immediately.

“What are you saying?”

“The drugs used were carefully mixed. Someone understood exactly how to avoid immediate detection.”

Dan remained silent.

“And there’s more,” she continued. “Somebody tampered with Judith’s medical records after midnight.”

Dan’s heartbeat slowed dangerously.

“Can you prove it?”

“I printed backup copies before they disappeared completely.”

She handed him several papers.

Dan looked through them carefully.

Then his face slowly changed.

One name appeared repeatedly inside the medication approval records.

A doctor connected closely to the Blackwood family.

At that same moment, Mr. Blackwood entered the hospital parking garage downstairs.

A black car waited near the far corner.

Marcus stepped out slowly from the shadows beside it.

“You asked to see me,” Marcus said calmly.

Mr. Blackwood looked irritated already. “I heard Judith woke up.”

Marcus leaned against the car casually. “And?”

“She could remember things.”

Marcus studied him carefully.

He could see fear in him.

The powerful businessman standing before him was afraid.

That's Interesting.

“What exactly are you hiding?” Marcus asked quietly.

Mr. Blackwood’s eyes sharpened. “That’s none of your business.”

Marcus smirked faintly.

Everything was becoming his business now.

Especially after hearing Judith’s name again.

Because the moment he heard that name last night, memories he buried years ago began returning.

And he needed answers.

Upstairs, Judith struggled to stand from the bed.

“I need to leave.”

Dan quickly stopped her. “You’re too weak.”

“My daughter is missing!”

Tears filled her eyes again.

“I can feel something is wrong.”

Dan gently held her shoulders. “We’ll bring her back.”

Judith suddenly looked at him carefully.

“Why are you helping me so much?”

The question caught him off guard.

Before he could answer, Ethan walked back into the room.

The tension returned instantly.

Judith slowly noticed it this time.

The cold looks between them.

The jealousy hidden beneath every word.

Something unexplainable existed between the brothers.

And somehow… she was standing at the center of it.

Later that evening, Marcus quietly entered the hospital wearing a dark cap and coat.

No one stopped him.

He walked silently through the hallway until he reached Judith’s room.

Then he froze.

Through the small glass window, he finally saw her clearly for the first time in years.

Judith. Older than she was of course and more fragile. But still the same woman.

Shock slowly spread across his face.

Because he remembered her. Very well.

And the moment his eyes landed on her, one terrifying thought entered his mind.

What if Lily was not Ethan’s child?

What if the past he buried years ago had finally returned for him?

Inside the room, Judith slowly turned her head toward the door, sensing someone watching her.