Doctors yelled, “”Vitals crashing—tox screen stat!”” as machines in the hospital beeped frantically. Holding hands and crying, Bernard and Elena waited. “”Worried”” was how David paced: “”My wife—God, please.””

However, his lover Rita sent him a secret text message chairs, and an atmosphere rife with greed and sorrow. David, Rita (the “”friend””), Elena, Bernard, and cousins were among the family members present.

Mr Ellis, the attorney, cleared his throat and said, “”In Linda Bernard’s………….

Doctors shouted over one another as alarms shrieked.

“Vitals crashing — tox screen, stat!
She’s not responding — push another dose!”

The room spun with movement, the metallic smell of antiseptic mixing with panic. Nurses rushed around Linda Bernard’s bed as her heart monitor dipped into a terrifying rhythm.

Outside the glass window, her parents — Bernard and Elena — stood clutching each other’s hands, tears streaking their faces. Elena whispered prayers under her breath, while Bernard stared, horrified, as his daughter’s body jerked under the frantic attempts to save her.

A few steps away, David, Linda’s husband, paced in sharp, uneven circles.

“My wife… please, God… don’t take her,” he muttered, running his hands through his hair so roughly it looked like he might pull it out. His face was pale, his breath unsteady.

But just behind him, sitting primly with crossed legs and a too-calm expression, was Rita.

Rita — the “family friend.”
Rita — the one who always appeared when Linda wasn’t around.
Rita — whose phone lit up at that moment with a message from David.

A message he thought no one saw.

David: If she doesn’t make it… everything we planned goes through. Wait for my signal.

Rita’s lips curled. Not in sadness. Not in fear.
But in anticipation.

As Linda fought for her life inside the trauma room, a very different kind of tension filled the waiting area — one thick with greed, secrets, and lies.

After what felt like hours, the beeping stabilized. Doctors emerged, sweating, exhausted.

“She’s alive,” one said. “But she’s unconscious and heavily sedated. Tox screen will tell us more.”

Bernard sobbed with relief. Elena nearly collapsed into a chair.

David covered his face with his hands—

—but no one noticed the faint, irritated twitch in his jaw.

Minutes later, Mr. Ellis, the family attorney, arrived carrying a sleek leather briefcase.

He looked around the waiting room — unsure whether to interrupt such raw grief — but then cleared his throat.

“I… I’m sorry to intrude at a moment like this. But Linda asked me to come today, regardless of the circumstances.”

Everyone’s head snapped toward him.

Rita stiffened.

David’s face drained of color.

Mr. Ellis opened the briefcase and removed a sealed envelope.

“In Linda Bernard’s updated will,” he began, his voice echoing in the silent room, “she outlines several… unexpected decisions.”

He adjusted his glasses.

“And I have been legally instructed to read them aloud only if she is incapacitated or unable to speak for herself.”

A hush fell so deep it felt like the air disappeared.

David swallowed.

Rita’s eyes narrowed.

Bernard and Elena held hands, bracing themselves.

Mr. Ellis unfolded the pages slowly.

“In Linda Bernard’s… final instructions, she states—”

He glanced up, startled.

“—that in the event of foul play, or circumstances suggesting a deliberate attempt on her life, the following changes take effect immediately.”

A ripple of dread moved through the room.

David’s fingers twitched.

Rita looked like she might bolt from her chair.

Mr. Ellis continued:

“Linda Bernard hereby disinherits her husband, David Marshall, entirely.”

The room erupted.

Elena gasped. Bernard’s jaw dropped.

David froze.

Rita’s face went white.

“And,” Mr. Ellis went on, his voice stronger now, “she transfers all assets, accounts, properties, and holdings to—”

He paused.

Everyone leaned forward.

“—to the person she believed would protect her most.”

David clenched his fists.

Rita whispered, “No, no, no—”

Mr. Ellis read the final line:

“Everything is to be left to the individual who brings the truth about her poisoning to light.”

A scream shattered the silence—

—but it wasn’t shock or grief.

It was sheer, terrified recognition.

And it came from Rita.