Culprit
Marco
"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Sandro asked, his eyes scanning the pile of documents I had laid out on the table. They were hospital files, message printouts from an unregistered number, and results from a private investigation I had already conducted. Everything I had managed to gather, I gave to him. Hoping it would help. He wouldn’t have to start from scratch.
I nodded, my shoulders sagging with the weight of everything I carried, but my resolve was firm. “Yes. I strongly believe Ashley had something to do with her death. I just… don’t have the evidence. That’s why I can’t do anything.”
His brows furrowed. “And what exactly is Ashley’s connection to this nurse?”
“She was Ashlyn’s attending nurse during her check-up... just before the accident.” I took a deep breath, trying to remember everything my wife had told me. “And she also assisted Ashley while she was pretending to be my wife. That same nurse messaged me afterward. She said she was sorry and scared that we might sue her. But I honestly don’t recall her doing anything that would warrant that.”
Sandro fell silent, eyes locked on one page of the report. He idly twirled the pen between his fingers, the silence growing heavier. The printed screenshot of my exchange with the nurse was included in the file, but I still felt the need to recount everything to him.
“Here’s what I suspect…” I continued, voice low. “It might have something to do with Ashley’s pregnancy while she was pretending to be me. You know the real situation with Ashlyn, right?”
Sandro looked up at me, his expression darkening. “Are you saying… the nurse did something?”
I shook my head firmly. “No. I think she was confused. I think she assumed they misdiagnosed Ashlyn during her first check-up. Ashley probably didn’t know about that because she still went through with getting pregnant. Something that could’ve exposed her lie… that she wasn’t really my wife if I knew about my wife's condition back then."
Sandro’s gaze dropped back to the documents. The silence between us thickened with tension. I could tell he was starting to doubt, too. And maybe… he was beginning to feel afraid.
“So, the nurse was caught in an accident?” Sandro finally asked, his voice low, eyes still on the paper in front of him. There was doubt in his tone, as though he was trying to believe something simpler, but the pieces just wouldn’t fit.
“Yes,” I replied, almost in a whisper. “It happened the night after she texted me. However, the strange thing is that the next day, I received another message. From her.”
Sandro’s eyes shot up. “Wait—what? I thought you said she…”
“Exactly.” I pointed to the report, showing him the printed screenshot from my phone. “She said something came up, and she couldn’t come and see me. But according to the coroner’s report, she was already dead by then. So, who sent that message?”
Sandro didn’t answer right away. But when he finally did, his voice was grim. “There’s something really off about this.”
I nodded, lips pressed tightly together. We both knew something was wrong. We just couldn’t see the full picture yet.
“And the police?” he asked softly.
I looked down, ashamed. “I didn’t tell them about the text messages. I was scared, Sandro. I didn’t want them to think I had anything to do with her death. I didn’t want to be dragged into this mess, and you know I had personal issues at that time."
He nodded slowly, his silence full of understanding. He looked at the paper, read the message again, and then gently placed it back in the folder.
“Now that I have this information,” he said calmly, though his voice carried firm resolve, “I’ll do what needs to be done. But I need your full cooperation. If there’s anything else you know, now’s the time. If someone is truly behind that nurse’s death, she won’t be the last one in danger. Don’t forget, there was a doctor involved, too.”
I swallowed hard. The air suddenly felt heavier.
“There’s one more thing I haven’t told you…” I said quietly. He looked at me, eyes serious, waiting. “After all that, I found a cell phone in our room. Ashley said it belonged to a co-worker. But right after that, she left in a hurry and said she needed to return it. So I didn't manage to check."
Sandro narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying Ashley might’ve sent that message?”
I nodded slowly, and Sandro didn’t say anything after that. But the look on his face said enough. He was already working through possibilities in his mind.
“Since this is my request, I’ll handle all the fees. No matter how much. Just tell me,” I said, pushing a brown envelope toward him, filled with even more details.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” he replied, but I could see it in his eyes. He didn’t want this situation to get any worse than it already was.
“I insist. At least this part is taken care of. I hired someone to follow Ashley. I just want to be sure… that she won’t hurt Ashlyn again. And more than that, I want to know who’s working with her.”
Sandro gave a heavy nod. But just as I was about to stand and leave, I paused. “One more thing… Ismael Oregas. And Dr. Adrian. Be careful with them. Especially Ismael. I think he’s the one who… handled the nurse.”
Sandro’s head jerked up, shock flashing in his expression before it was quickly replaced with something harder, colder. He nodded again, slower this time. He was beginning to understand the depth of the fight we were in.
“Thank you,” I whispered as I stood. “I have to go. Ashlyn needs me.”
I paused and looked at him intently. “Make sure no one finds out about this. We don’t know how far Ashley’s reach goes.”
He gave a silent nod. In that stillness, we both understood:
The war had just begun.
I drove home fast, my car flying over the pavement like a bullet. My heart pounded harder the closer I got to the house. The subdivision was secure, with guards at the entrance, nightly patrols, and even CCTV. But none of that was enough to put my mind at ease.
I couldn’t leave Ashlyn and Maya’s safety in the hands of cameras and gates.
It was only Wednesday. Two more days before Ashley would bring Asher back to us.
Friday. The day I always looked forward to but also dreaded the most. Because every time my son came back to me, something about him felt... off. Like a wall had grown between us.
He was quiet. No longer the same cheerful, affectionate boy who once clung to me. Now, he often stared into space, distant, and when I approached, he’d hesitate before reaching back.
In just a few months, he would be turning two. I wanted nothing more than to celebrate that birthday with him in our home, surrounded by Ashlyn and his little sister, Maya. I prayed the court would grant us full custody by then.
But until that day came, my mind remained restless. Whenever Asher acted that way, only one name haunted me: Ashley.
I couldn’t shake the thought that she was doing something, maybe even saying things to poison his mind against us. Against Ashlyn, especially.
And I wasn’t imagining it. Asher had begun to draw away even from her.
Ashlyn.
The woman who treated him like her own flesh and blood. The woman who woke up early to cook his favorite meals. The woman who remembered every doctor’s appointment better than her own schedule.
“Marco… did you notice Asher last time he came back?” my wife asked me one night, just as we were about to go to sleep.
“Yeah,” I replied quietly. “He was quiet again. He’s not the same.”
“Maybe he’s just being scolded a lot over there? Or maybe… Ashley’s showing him things she shouldn’t?”
I didn’t answer right away. I looked at her instead, and in her eyes, I saw fear, not for herself, but for my son.
“She’s not just turning him against you, Sweet. She’s turning him against me too. Maybe even this home.”
Ashlyn took a deep breath. She leaned into me and wrapped her arms around my chest. When she pulled back, her eyes were determined.
“We have to do everything we can to make Asher feel like this is his home. That he’s safe here.”
I nodded, fierce with resolve. I would never let Ashley corrupt my son’s heart, and I would never let her destroy the peace we were building.