Chapter 123. Return of trustworthy

Chapter 123. Return of trustworthy
The next morning broke like a wound - by leaking pel lights through the curtain, the drug and rain smell. Vera did not leave Raymond all night. Her fingers were still associated with her, and the note was laid by Thomas in her pocket, as if she did not go out like a fork.
When the doctor finally entered, his face was serious. "He is stable for now," he said softly. "But his body is weak. If there is another setback - emotional or physical - it can push it on the edge."
Vera nodded her head, but her heart was not calm. He thought of Raymond's face, yellow and still, and Thomas's words. Whatever I do is for you. What did this mean? Protect him? To destroy his enemies? Or has he decided that he is now one of them?
The lawyer came in the morning. His voice laughed but was tense. "Mrs. Raymond, you need to see something."
He spread a pile of papers across the table. "They were issued anonymously for the press last night. They are financial documents - copies of your heritage papers were replaced. Somebody rebuilt your signature."
Vera's stomach fell. "Who?"
He hesitated. "It resembles Thomas."
The word hit him like a slap. "This is impossible. He will never happen-"
"I thought the same. But these papers were sent from his old office. He had cleaned his things three nights earlier."
Vera pressed one hand on her mouth. "He planned this."
The lawyer bent close. "You need to understand this, if it spreads, they say that you will say that you have conspired with the company to steal. The board is already meeting today to discuss the suspension of your authority."
His pulse ran. "They can't do this."
"They can, and if you don't work fast, you need to show them evidence.
He gently nodded his head, although fear claws on his chest. "I will be there."
When she left, she went back to Raymond's bed. His breath was stable, but his body looked delicate - delicate to bear more pain.
He kissed his forehead gently. "Hold for me," he whispered. "I'll not fix it."

By noon, Vera moved to the boardroom like a storm. Her black suit was simple, but was sharp, her hair was pinned back, her eyes were burning with calm anger.
The room became silent as soon
Chapter 133 - Blood shade
The storm broke just before dawn. The city got thunder in the city due to rain against the windows of Hale Estate. Vera stood in front of the mirror, yellow and hollow-eye, staring at her reflection as it belonged to someone else. The doctor's words harassed him - not a normal pregnancy. Every heartbeat looked loud, as if she could not do anything.
He pressed a trembling hand against his stomach. "what you?" she whispered.
There was a soft knock on the door. Raymond entered quietly, bending on his crutches. "You stayed awake all night again."
"I couldn't sleep."
He came closer, his voice was calm but firm. "You can't do this. You need rest, food-"
"Don't," she was inflicted before she could stop herself. "Don't tell me what I want, Raymond. You can't understand."
He froze, then sighing. "You are right. I'm not doing it. But I am trying."
The silence fell between them. Once the shadow of Francis was stressed now used to stay inside the wind, he breathed. Raymond's gaze became soft. "Vera, look at me. Whatever is there, we will face it together."
She met her eyes. "You keep saying this, but this is not something you can fix. Francis did not hurt me, he changed me. He replaced me. The doctor found a chemical in my blood that should not be present."
Raymond's jaw became tough. "Then we find a way to reverse it."
"It's not so easy!" She cried, her voice exploded. "He said that changes could affect the child. He does not even know what it means."
Raymond went closer, wrapping his arms around his trembling body. "Then we will find someone who does."

By noon, Vera and Raymond Dr. Laurent's private laboratory was - Francis, an underground facility hidden under one of the buildings of an old company, which was once owned by Francis. Laurent was the chief scientist of Francis years ago, but disappeared after refusing to test human subjects. When Vera found him again, he was reluctant to help.
He said, "You should not come here," he said, flipped through his file with uncomfortable eyes. "It did not mean reopening the experiments of Francis."
"They are already," Vera said flatly. "I need to know what he did to me."
Laurent hesitation. "Francis was suffering from control. He used to talk about creating a legacy that would never die." When you were hospitalized years ago - after the fire - he was treated here. I was not allowed to see your file here. Now ... "He stopped, his hands were trembling a little." Now I see a serum mark he tested once. It was meant to change genetic flexibility. "
"Change?" Raymond repeated.
"Yes. The goal was to make the human body resistant to pain, disease, even aging - but it failed. Every subject died."
Vera's stomach fell. "Then why am I still alive?"
Laurent saw her close to the fear. "Because your body is customized. Somehow, you survive that no one else can be. But if you imagine it after that, your child ..." he is trapped, unable to finish.
Raymond's voice was hoarse. "What about the child, Laurent?"
Laurent gradually breathed. "It can take the symptoms that were never present."
Vera's breath stopped. "You mean ... it's not normal."
"There is no child," Laurent said softly, "but it can not be completely related to you or Raymond. The serum turns into a hermit. It changes what he is."
The world looked inclined. Raymond's hand found him, holding tight, but his grip could not stop the fear on his chest.
That night, Vera again sat in the nursery, stopped the light, hand on her stomach. The rain had stopped, but the Thunder still rolled away like a resonance of his thoughts.
He whispered in silence, "If you can hear me ... if you are real ... Please, be kind. Don't be like him."

For a moment, he thought he had felt something - a faint pulsing under his palm, almost like a reaction. He should have comforted him. But instead, it felt like a warning.
The next morning, the Hell Haveli was again surrounded. The news van crowd Gates. Francis's test was taken up, and rumors were spreading rapidly, as she could include them. In the headlines, his leadership, his purity, even his pregnancy was questioned.
Rowan attended his office, throwing a newspaper at the desk. "You need to see this."
The front page read: 'Hels' heirs- or something else?' Below it, a picture of Vera is leaving the hospital.
Rowan said, "They are calling it unnatural." "Some anonymous sources leaked your test results."
Vera's blood cooled down. "Anonymous?"
"Juliet," Raymond said seriously from him. "This is to be for him."
Vera saw her. "But how will she get my medical files?"
Rowan is hesitant. "As long as someone helped him."
His mind ran. He remembered the nurse who smiled a lot. The doctor gave him a strange look after his last visit. Employees who became silent on entering the hallway.
He slammed his hand on the table. "Find out who leaked it. I want a name." Rowan nodded and left quickly.
Raymond came closer. "Vera, you need to stop. Stress-"
"I can't stop," he said bitterly. "If I do, we all die."
He gently rubbed his face. "You are no longer alone. You don't have to take all this."
For a moment, she wanted to believe her. She wanted to drown in her warmth and forgot everything. But she could not. No, when she could still hear Francis' voice in her head - the seed always grows.
Days passed. The test started. Francis appeared in court, thin, big, but his eyes still carried on that dangerous fire. When Vera entered the court room, he smiled as if a man was greeting his reflection.

"Mrs. Hale," she said softly. "You look bright. I have heard that congratulations are in order."
He did not reply. She kept moving, her hand was stable on her cane.
But inside, his pulse was anarchy.
When he took the stand, Francis' lawyer started asking about serum, heritage, and empire. Then he asked, "Is it true that you are expecting a child who cannot be completely ... human?"
The court room was gasping.
Raymond shot his feet. "Objection!"
"Overred," the judge quietly said. "Answer the question, Mrs. Hale."
Vera worked hard. "My child is mine. All this needs to be known to anyone."
Francis gently dodged from his seat. "Blood never lies, Vera."
His gaze went to him. "Neither does justice."
The storm had returned by evening. Vera was shaken in a car outside the courthouse. Raymond arrived to touch her hand, but she got away.
"He knows," he whispered. "He knows about the child. About everything."
Raymond's expression became dark. "He is cheating."
"No, he is not. He planned this from the beginning."
Raymond caught his shoulders. "Vera, listen to me. Whatever happens next, you are stronger than that. You are stronger than all of them."
Tears filled his eyes. "You are not able to understand, Raymond. What will happen if I am not?"
He bowed down and kissed his forehead gently. "Then I will be strong for both of us."
That night, he dreamed of fire. The same flames were once sent from his childhood house. Only this time, she was not running. She was standing at its center, holding a child with Francis' eyes.
When he woke up, his pillow was wet with tears.
She turned to the window, where Don painted the world in yellow gold.

He again pressed his palm on his stomach, his voice was trembling. "If you really belong to him, I will change it. You will never be like him. You will be mine."
And far, in his gel cell, Francis smiled again- because he knew that she was already losing war inside her blood.
Chapter 134 - Circle teases