Chapter 11 - The Shadows of the PastThe newborn months were a blur of midnight feedings, soft cries, and the quiet rhythm of healing. Noah was a peaceful baby, often sleeping soundly on Eliasâs chest while the former real estate titan reviewed building blueprints on his laptop with one hand and held a baby bottle with the other.

Yet, even as peace settled over our home, the shadows of the past refused to vanish completely.
It was a rainy Tuesday afternoon when my phone rang from the hospital desk. It was the district attorney's office.
"Dr. Brooks," the prosecutor's voice was grim. "We have a development regarding the trial of Victoria Vance. Her defense team has filed a motion claiming that the digital logs tying Dr. Harrison to the logistics wire transfer were fabricated by an internal hospital employeeâspecifically, someone with administrative root access."
I froze, holding Noah against my shoulder with one arm. "Root access? Only the Chief of Medicine and the IT Director have root access. Are they accusing me?"
"Not yet," the DA replied cautiously. "But Victoria is demanding a full forensic audit of your hospital terminal logs from the night of the accident. If they find any discrepancy, her lawyers will argue that you orchestrated the frame-job against her."
I clicked the phone off, my heart hammering against my ribs. Victoria was behind bars, but her claws were still long enough to strike from a jail cell.
Elias walked into the kitchen, sensing the sudden shift in the air. He gently took Noah from my arms, his eyes searching my pale face.
"What is it?" he asked, his voice dropping into a dangerous, protective register.
"Victoria's lawyers are weaponizing the hospital's IT logs," I whispered. "They're trying to prove I planted the evidence against Harrison."
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Elias's jaw tightened. The easygoing, gentle father vanished in a heartbeat, replaced by the ruthless billionaire who once closed billion-dollar acquisitions in hostile takeovers.
"They want a forensic audit?" Elias said coldly. "Fine. We'll give them one. But we're going to hire the best cybersecurity firm in the country to audit their audit before they even touch a server."
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