Chapter 256
The moment the medical record was opened, the air seemed to freeze.
The handwriting on the page—strokes varying in length—but clearly recognizable as my name.
My vision went dark. My brain buzzed with a deafening hum.
This shouldn't be happening!
Everyone else could be mistaken, but why would Alicia lie too?
Was she trying to use this to drive a wedge between Leopold and me?
"Lucinda, why did Grandma write your name too?"
Leopold's grip on my hand suddenly tightened.
The muscles beneath his suit tensed, inch by inch.
I shook my head quickly. "I don't know, but I really didn't do it."
"Still denying it at this point!" David was furious. He snatched the medical record from the doctor's hand, his fingertip jabbing hard at the words as he demanded angrily, "You don't believe the servants and Orion's testimony. Now even Mom wrote your name—what excuse do you have left!"
"What's your rush!" Donovan stood up, cutting off David's words with a sharp rebuke. "Cindy isn't that kind of person. There must be some misunderstanding here."
David whipped around to look at him, his voice full of anguish. "Dad, the evidence is right here—it was Lucinda who hurt Mom! Why won't you believe it? Have you been bewitched by her too, just like Leopold!"
"Outrageous!" Donovan reprimanded him sternly. "This is a hospital—what nonsense are you spouting!"
David wasn't backing down. He immediately argued back, "Dad, Lucinda is the culprit Mom identified. She's still in there unconscious, yet you refuse to punish the person who did this to her. How can you face her!"
Donovan refused to be led by the nose. His sharp gaze fixed on David. "So not investigating the truth and just letting Cindy take the blame—that would be accountability to your mother?"
David lowered his hand, his tone resolute. "Dad, you're determined to shield her? Fine. Then I'll call the police right now and have this vicious woman arrested. And while I'm at it, I'll have Leopold investigated too—who knows if he's been pulling strings behind the scenes!"
Hearing him threaten to drag Leopold down with me, I was about to speak up.
Donovan slapped David hard across the face. "David, have you lost your mind! This matter hasn't been investigated yet, and here you are stirring up trouble. Are you really standing up for your mother, or do you have ulterior motives?"
David clutched his face, trembling with rage. "Dad, you haven't hit me in years, and now you're hitting me for an outsider?"
Donovan let out a cold snort, his tone stern and severe. "I'm trying to knock some sense into you so you don't do something self-destructive and foolish!"
"Uncle David." Leopold took half a step forward, his tall frame blocking me from the others' sight. "Grandfather's right. This matter hasn't been thoroughly investigated yet. Rushing to convict someone will only invite criticism."
David's expression stiffened. He bit back any further words.
Just then, Sophia arrived with Orion in tow.
"Leopold, don't argue with David. He's just worried—and it's not like there's no evidence, it's just..." She glanced at Donovan, deliberately trailing off.
Donovan first looked at me, then frowned before pressing her. "What other evidence do you have?"
Sophia's gaze shifted away, as if she didn't dare meet his eyes directly. She said softly, "Orion's clothes got wet, so I went to the car outside to get him a change. I didn't expect him to say he wanted to see his great-grandmother, but he couldn't find the way, so he video-called me."
"Get to the point." Donovan impatiently urged her on.
Sophia quickly added, "Orion's phone watch has a video cache function. It just happened to record the moment Mrs. Alicia Percy was stabbed. The original video is synced to my phone."
With that, she hurriedly held out her phone for Donovan to see.
Donovan's frown deepened, but he still took it and watched.
After viewing it, his expression grew even darker. "Leopold, take a look."
My eyes followed the phone as it moved.
When Leopold took it with one hand, I leaned in to watch too.
Due to the angle, the video didn't capture everything, but you could still see someone ignoring Alicia's struggles, raising a small knife and forcefully plunging it into her chest.
The entire process took less than ten seconds.
At first, Alicia clutched her chest, struggling to sit up, but after landing the first strike, the attacker didn't leave—instead, they raised the knife again, aiming for her neck.
At the critical moment, Orion's soft voice rang out.
"Great-grandma!"
Hearing someone approach, the attacker abruptly stopped mid-motion, then disappeared from the frame.
Moments later, Donovan and Leopold burst into view, breaking through the door.
This scene connected with my memory.
But something about this video felt off.
Suddenly, Leopold turned to look at me, his eyes dark and filled with an emotion I couldn't decipher.
"Forward this video to me. I'll have someone send it to a professional lab for authentication."
Leopold returned the phone to Sophia.
Sophia looked up, her gaze tender as she met his eyes. "Of course. Getting it authenticated is good too—it'll keep Cindy from being wrongly accused and causing misunderstandings."
I looked at Sophia. She showed not even a hint of guilt.
Could the video actually be real?
"Daddy, I'm not lying. Do you believe me?" Orion lifted his small face, looking up at Leopold with hopeful eyes.
Seeing that little face so similar to Leopold's, my heart gave a small, sharp pang.
Leopold glanced down at him coldly, his tone icy. "I'm not your daddy."
Orion's little mouth drooped, as if he was about to cry.
Sophia quickly soothed him.
Soon after, Alicia was wheeled out by a nurse.
Donovan had been about to scold Leopold, but seeing Alicia come out, he hurried over.
Leopold saw her too and immediately strode forward.
I was about to follow, but he moved so quickly that he let go of my hand.
In that moment, my heart plummeted from some great height.
An indescribable emotion gripped me tightly.
I looked down at my palm, then at Leopold supporting the gurney, his face full of worry.
I immediately dismissed the thought of approaching.
As everyone moved toward the hospital bed, I turned and walked against the flow, heading outside.
Night had deepened.
The moisture-laden chill was pervasive, seeping relentlessly into one's skin.
Everything that happened tonight was too bizarre.
I hadn't had time to sort through it all.
This was a good chance to think it through carefully.
From Donovan calling to tell me to go to the Percy Manor, to Donovan being drawn away, to me being left alone with Alicia—
The early stages all seemed fine.
Later, when I woke up, I found my hands covered in blood, gripping a bloodstained knife.
According to Orion's video, I was indeed the prime suspect.
But judging from my previous two episodes, I showed no tendency toward violence.
Most of the time, I just wandered around without awareness.
How could I have stabbed Alicia's heart with such precision, then attempted a second attack?
And been alert enough to sense someone approaching from outside the door, then vanish from the frame so quickly?
So who was that person really?
Lost in thought, I suddenly noticed a figure leaving through the hospital's side entrance.
That silhouette gave me a strangely familiar feeling.
Inexplicably, I followed.