Chapter 145

Chapter 145

Damian’s POV

The courtroom was unnervingly still, not because nothing was happening, but because everything was about to. The kind of stillness that crept under the skin, pressed against the ribs, and made breathing feel like an effort. Damian sat upright, his hands clasped together, knuckles pale, jaw tight enough to ache.

Vanessa sat only a few seats away now, she was no longer just a witness, no longer merely an observer sitting pretty and composed. She was seated where defendants sat, posture stiff, eyes sharp with something feral beneath the fear. Her lawyer leaned in occasionally, whispering things Damian couldn’t hear, but it didn’t matter.

He already knew whatever was about to come out would not be small.

The judge adjusted her glasses, glanced down at the file before her, then looked up. “Miss. Hart,” she said evenly, “you are now being questioned as a party of interest and potential co-defendant in this case. You are required to answer truthfully.”

Vanessa’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I understand.”

The prosecutor stood, voice calm but firm. “Miss. Hart, let’s start simply. When did you first begin receiving private medical updates about Evelyn Carter’s pregnancy?”

Vanessa hesitated. It was brief, almost imperceptible. But Damian caught it.

“I was concerned,” she said finally. “This involved my child as well.”

“That wasn’t the question,” the prosecutor replied. “When did you begin receiving the information?”

Vanessa swallowed. “After Dr. Allen traveled abroad.”

A murmur rippled through the courtroom.

Damian’s eyes snapped to Nurse Felicia, seated several rows behind the attorneys. Her face had gone pale.

“And who provided those updates?” the prosecutor asked.

Vanessa glanced toward Felicia before catching herself. “Nurse Felicia.”

Damian felt something cold slide down his spine.

The prosecutor nodded. “Was Nurse Felicia authorized to share confidential patient information with you?”

“No,” Vanessa admitted quietly.

“Did you compensate her for doing so?”

Vanessa’s chin lifted. “Yes.”

Damian’s fingers tightened together, his pulse thudding hard in his ears.

The prosecutor took a step closer. “Miss. Hart, did Nurse Felicia inform you of anything unusual regarding Evelyn Carter’s pregnancy?”

Vanessa’s gaze flickered.

“Answer the question,” the judge said sharply.

Vanessa exhaled. Slowly. “Yes.”

Damian’s chest tightened.

“What did she inform you of?”

Vanessa’s lawyer leaned in, whispering urgently, but Vanessa shook her head once. Her shoulders squared, eyes darkening, something reckless igniting there.

“She told me,” Vanessa said, her voice steady now, almost defiant, “that Evelyn Carter was carrying twins.”

The courtroom erupted, gasps, voices, chairs scraping back.

Damian’s mind blanked.

Twins?

The word echoed, wrong, impossible, crashing through every memory he had of appointments, ultrasounds, reports. He felt as though the floor had shifted beneath him.

The judge slammed her gavel. “Order! Order!”

Damian stared ahead, heart pounding violently. Across the room, Dr. Allen looked like he’d been struck.

“What?” he said aloud, before he could stop himself.

The judge turned sharply. “Dr. Allen, you were unaware of this?”

Dr. Allen stood, stunned. “Completely unaware. All scans conducted under my supervision indicated a single fetus.”

Vanessa laughed then, it wasn’t hysterical, it wasn’t loud, it was bitter.

“That’s because you weren’t there,” she said coolly. “And by the time you returned, it was already handled.”

Damian finally turned to look at her, she met his gaze head-on. And at that moment, he didn’t recognize her at all.

The prosecutor spoke again. “Miss. Hart, what do you mean by ‘handled’?”

Vanessa’s lips curved slightly. “I mean I made sure things went the way they were supposed to.”

Damian felt sick.

“You didn’t want Evelyn Carter close to Mr. Blackwood,” the prosecutor said slowly. “Is that correct?”

Vanessa’s eyes flicked to Damian, then away. “I never wanted her anywhere near him.”

“Why?”

“Because she didn’t belong,” Vanessa snapped. “She was a nobody, a surrogate. A means to an end.”

Damian flinched.

“And what did you do to ensure that?” the prosecutor pressed.

Vanessa’s breath came faster now. The composure was cracking, anger bleeding through fear.

“I did everything,” she said. “Everything.”

The courtroom leaned in collectively.

“I paid for information. I paid for silence. I paid for access.” Her voice shook, but she didn’t stop. “When I found out she was carrying twins, I knew she would never leave. Not with two children, not with that kind of bond, not with the way Damian looks at her.”

Damian’s vision blurred.

“So I made sure she wouldn’t have them both,” Vanessa continued.

A stunned silence fell.

The prosecutor’s voice was low. “Explain.”

Vanessa exhaled sharply. “I was already carrying a child, Bryan. My biological son.” Her jaw clenched. “I arranged for him to be taken to foster care, through people Nurse Felicia knew.”

Felicia let out a strangled sound.

“So, I disposed of him, my own child,” Vanessa said bluntly. “and took one of Evelyn’s babies, so we both have 1 of the twins each.”

The world literally stopped, Damian felt the blood drain from his face.

Across the room, Evelyn made a small, broken sound.

Vanessa wasn’t done. “I told Felicia not to inform the parents about the twins when she found out,” she continued. “She obeyed, and she handled the delivery for me and Evelyn. I was induced so that my baby arrived around the same time as Evelyn's babies, to make the plan easy and swift. Nurse Felicia made sure only one baby was documented, and mine went missing before anyone even knew he existed.”

The courtroom exploded again.

“No—” Carmen cried out.

Reed shot to his feet. “This is—”

The judge slammed the gavel repeatedly. “Order! ORDER!”

Damian couldn’t breathe, Evelyn had carried two babies.

His babies.

And one had been stolen by Vanessa.

He stood abruptly, the chair scraping loudly behind him. His voice came out hoarse, raw, stripped of everything but shock.

“So… Evelyn was carrying twins?”

The room fell silent.

Dr. Allen turned toward Evelyn, horror etched into his face. “Twin babies?” he whispered.

Evelyn’s knees buckled slightly as Carmen caught her.

Damian stared a
head, the truth crashing down on him with unbearable force.

Two children, one taken.

And everything he thought he knew had just shattered beyond repair.