Chapter 1

I was the most renowned pediatrician in the pack.

On the day we administered the VRX-17 vaccine I'd introduced, the pups were infected en masse.

A neurotropic virus swept through the pediatric ward, killing two pups.

Several more developed encephalitis, pneumonia, and permanent paralysis.

The Werewolf Court convicted me of deliberate harm. I pleaded desperately that the vaccine was contaminated.

But when the drug was sent for testing, the batch number and properties all came back normal.

How was that possible? I'd tested the vaccine myself, and my results clearly showed something was wrong.

I couldn't accept it. I sought out expert after expert to verify my findings, but every single one told me the vaccine was fine.

The judge and the officers wore grim expressions as they spoke.

"Ma'am, you can't defraud the pack's medical system like this."

"Think of the pups you killed. What had they ever done to deserve it?"

In the end, I was sentenced to death for causing a catastrophic medical incident.

My parents were accused of aiding my violations. They were stripped of their positions and died under a torrent of blame and injustice.

I learned of their deaths before my execution. Even as the wolfsbane seeped into my veins, all I could feel was regret.

When I opened my eyes again, a nurse was about to push VRX-17 into a pup's vein.

Chapter 1

Standing in the treatment room of the pack children's hospital again, I couldn't stop my body from trembling.

My parents, Henry and Eleanor Hart, carried stacks of evidence from pack to pack as they fought to appeal my case.

They had devoted their careers to pack medicine, only to die surrounded by scorn and curses.

And I had been in prison, unable to attend their funeral.

As for the families who had innocently lost their children, the only thing left in their eyes when they looked at me was endless hatred.

But what tormented me most... was that the vaccine had clearly been contaminated. Why had every testing agency said there was nothing wrong?

I'd been a pediatrician for fifteen years. Even the Alpha King had commended my expertise.

VRX-17 was a highly regarded vaccine, and I was the one who had introduced it. There was no reason for every testing agency to conspire against me.

So where had things gone wrong?

I quickly stopped the nurse and stared at the syringe in her hand.

For the first time in my life, I doubted my own abilities.

Seeing the hope on the nurse's and families' faces, I felt cold sweat bead at the nape of my neck.

I picked up the syringe and examined it closely. I still couldn't see anything wrong, but this was the very drug that had caused the disaster in my past life.

My heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst through my chest. What was I supposed to do? Was I doomed to relive the same nightmare?

No. Absolutely not. I took several deep breaths and forced myself to calm down.

Then I ordered the nurses to recall every dose of VRX-17.

Once every syringe had been recovered, I refunded the families' payments.

I immediately called Alpha Alaric Vale, the hospital director and my fiance.

"Alaric, the new VRX-17 shipment has a problem. I need to request testing."

He arranged for the lab to run the tests. Results didn't come back until evening.

"Dr. Hart, the test results are negative. There's nothing wrong with the vaccine."

How was that possible? In my past life, I'd tested it myself and found clear problems.

I told them to run the tests again using different methods.

The lab technician, Aaron Fletcher, asked me to put on a sterile suit and stand beside him while he worked.

He used two different testing methods right under my nose and showed me the results.

The vaccine really was negative. No abnormalities whatsoever.

"Dr. Hart, try not to be so tense. Maybe all these sick children lately have simply left you exhausted."

Staring at the two test results, I began to wonder whether I had imagined the whole problem.

Maybe it really was just my nerves?

From medical school onward, I'd tested countless medications over fifteen years without making a single mistake. How could I suddenly become unreliable?

Still uneasy, I asked Alaric to either retest this batch of VRX-17 or destroy it outright.

Alaric frowned.

"There's no confirmed abnormality. This batch was purchased with funds the Alpha King just allocated for pack healthcare.

"The children are waiting for their vaccinations, and the next shipment won't arrive for over a month. If you're really that worried, vaccinate the healthy children first. Once the patient load eases, we'll send the vaccines out for external retesting."

Chapter 2

Despite my objections, Alaric wouldn't budge.

After all, the entire pack was waiting for this vaccine to fight off the virus the vampires had released.

On top of that, the hospital had other patients, and the queue for testing had already wasted valuable time.

The lab wouldn't be able to accept samples for retesting for at least nine more hours.

I sat in my office staring at those vials, and the horrors of my past life came flooding back.

The shrill alarms of the monitors. The agonized wails of the pups. The unhinged roaring echoing down the corridors.

The moment my parents learned of the final verdict, their hair turned white overnight. The families of the victims glared at me as though they wanted to tear me apart.

A violent shudder ran through me, and cold sweat drenched my body.

I still didn't dare put those syringes to use.

I pulled out my phone and called Mom.

"Mom."

The moment I spoke, the tears fell. I couldn't hold back the choking sobs.

Mom heard it immediately.

"Evelyn? Did something happen at the hospital?"

I was the only daughter in the family. My parents had spent decades in medicine and passed everything they knew down to me.

In my past life, everyone had been convinced I'd killed those children. Only they never stopped believing that I would never gamble with a child's life.

I forced myself to calm down, trying to make my voice sound normal.

"It's nothing, Mom. I just suddenly wanted to hear your voice."

Mom's voice was gentle as she soothed me.

"Then come home tonight. Your dad's making roast chicken. He'd love to set an extra plate."

I hung up quickly and pulled myself together.

The front desk suddenly called on the internal line, saying several parents were demanding answers.

Alaric was also getting pressure from the Pack Medical Council, urging the pediatric department to proceed with VRX-17 vaccinations immediately.

I splashed water on my face and put my gloves back on.

Aaron had just tested three syringes in front of me, and every result came back normal.

As long as I checked each one carefully, screening every single dose, the tragedy of my past life wouldn't happen again.

I reminded myself of that, picked up a syringe, and walked over to a group of the older children.

Every muscle locked with tension as I administered the injection.

In the observation area, the children showed no symptoms whatsoever.

I gave several more children their injections, and half an hour later, every one of them was healthy and lively.

Had it really been my fault in my past life?

I finally let out a breath of relief. Whatever the truth was, what mattered most right now was that the children were safe.

From there, I quickly cross-checked every dose of VRX-17 against the registration system.

Once I'd confirmed there were no issues, I completed a third of the vaccinations.

More and more children arrived, and the nurses joined in to help.

Before long, a nurse handed me a new syringe.

I rolled my shoulders and took it from her.

The moment I finished the injection, I heard a scream.

"Dr. Hart! The child suddenly developed a fever and seizures and is struggling to breathe!"

Cold sweat poured down my body.

So the infection had happened anyway?

Chapter 3

A crushing wave of despair engulfed me.

Why? The children I'd vaccinated earlier had all been perfectly fine. Why was this happening now?

Was I destined to relive the same ending no matter what I did?

On the hospital bed, the child who'd been injected less than five minutes ago was convulsing violently, each breath weaker than the last.

Watching him suffer, I was half-tempted to inject the remaining VRX-17 into my own veins.

If I died, it would prove the vaccine was contaminated, and the hospital would have to stop using it immediately.

Just as I reached for the syringe, my phone screen lit up.

A message from Mom.

[Evelyn, are you off work yet?]

[The chicken's already in the oven. Your dad also got that apple pie you love. Come home early tonight.]

No. I couldn't die yet. Not until I'd treated every sick child.

And my parents were at home waiting for me.

Most of the children hadn't been infected yet. They needed a doctor, not another corpse.

I held back my tears and hit the emergency alert button.

"Stop all injections! Recall every remaining dose! Initiate a full medical lockdown!"

If I could contain the patients before the virus spread, there was still a chance.

When I'd first noticed something off, I had already tried to pull the entire batch.

This time, no matter what Alaric or the Medical Council said, I wouldn't resume vaccinations.

Even if it cost me my medical license, that was still better than watching children die.

I forced myself to stay focused, injected the pup in front of me with antiviral serum, and prepared to move him into a negative-pressure isolation room.

But when the treatment room door opened, despair crashed over me again.

The corridor was packed with pups and parents waiting for their vaccinations, completely blocking the path to the isolation ward.

The nurses kept asking the crowd to step back, but no one was willing to leave their child's side.

Accusations echoed through the entire pediatric floor. The parents' shouted questions and the children's cries nearly pushed me over the edge.

While I stood there frozen, alarms shrieked again from the observation area.

A second child collapsed with infection, then a third, then a fourth.

The numbers on the monitors started turning red.

I rushed into the observation area to resuscitate them.

Every child who'd fallen ill had received syringes from the same tray, brought in by the same nurse.

I immediately ordered the head nurse to seal the tray, but in the chaos someone knocked over the medication cart. Empty syringes and patient files scattered across the floor.

"How did this happen..."

I stood frozen, my mind completely blank.

Bang!

A parent broke through the isolation door outside the treatment room, and more people surged in behind him.

Some clutched unconscious children and wailed. Others grabbed nurses demanding answers. Still others smashed the medication cart in fury.

The disaster had happened all over again. The entire pediatric ward dissolved into chaos.

I felt dizzy, yet somehow felt no pain at all.

Derek Collins, the father of the first child to fall ill, charged to the glass door and pounded on it, his eyes bloodshot.

"What did you inject into my son? Wasn't it supposed to be a vaccine?

"Open this door!"

Even having lived through this once before, I still couldn't face the same devastating scene.

More and more parents crowded around the treatment room until pack guards and emergency medics arrived, forcing a path through.

They found me slumped against the wall and assumed I'd been infected too, immediately breaking through the locked door.

"Dr. Hart, can you hear me?"

Chapter 4

The emergency medics helped me out of the treatment room.

The moment my feet touched the ground, my legs gave out, and I nearly collapsed to my knees.

I seized Alpha Alaric's arm, and the first words out of my mouth were:

"VRX-17...

"VRX-17 really does have a problem."

Aaron, who had arrived with the pack guards, was the same person who'd retested the vaccine for me that evening.

He stared at me in disbelief.

"Dr. Hart, didn't we already run two rounds of tests? The vaccine came back clean both times.

"If you were this worried, why did you go ahead with the injections?"

The parents standing nearby heard this, and their fury ignited.

"Did you hear that? The hospital already ran the tests!"

"There's nothing wrong with the vaccine. She made an error during the procedure!"

"She knew her judgment was off and still dared to inject children. She was gambling with their lives!"

I shook my head desperately.

"That's not what happened.

"Before I resumed the injections, I verified every single dose. The first batch of children showed no abnormalities.

"But the moment the nurse switched to a new set of syringes, the infections started."

Aaron's brow furrowed deeply.

"Viral testing isn't a light switch. It can't flip between positive and negative.

"Besides, VRX-17 just passed the Pack Medical Authority's safety certification."

Before he could say another word, a man in a dark gray coat stepped through the crowd.

"I can confirm one thing on her behalf."

He removed the visitor badge from his chest, revealing the Northern Pack's emblem.

"I came today for a joint vaccine evaluation. I was in the observation area before the incident."

Every pair of eyes turned to him.

My heart lurched, like a drowning person finally grabbing hold of a piece of driftwood.

He was Alpha Caine Mercer, leader of the Northern Pack and my senior from medical school.

Derek, his eyes red, challenged him immediately.

"Do you know her?"

"I do, but I haven't spoken to her since arriving at the hospital today."

Caine's expression remained composed.

"I don't know whether VRX-17 actually has a problem, but she called off the vaccinations before the incident and demanded the entire batch be sealed and retested.

"She only administered the vaccine to healthy older children, and she verified every single dose."

I nodded vigorously.

"Yes, I was checking the entire time!

"The earlier children were all fine. That's the only reason I continued!"

Every word Caine said proved I hadn't fabricated excuses after the fact.

Before any child had shown symptoms, I had already identified the danger and had been trying to prevent it.

But Derek couldn't accept it.

"So what if she called it off early?

"If she already suspected there was a problem, why did she inject the children at all?"

He grabbed Aaron by the collar.

"Did you all know the vaccine was risky and force her to keep using it?"

Aaron's face changed. He immediately pushed Derek's hand away.

"Calm down. We ran the tests, and at the time, we found nothing abnormal.

"We only told Dr. Hart that if she was still concerned, she could start with healthy children and wait until the lab was available for external retesting."

Chapter 5

Derek spun around and pointed at me.

"You heard that? Nobody forced you. You decided to keep going on your own!"

I felt cold all over.

"I requested the entire batch be sealed and destroyed, but Alpha Alaric said the families were counting on this vaccine.

"The Medical Council was also pressuring the pediatric department to resume vaccinations."

Alaric's expression turned ugly.

"Evelyn, I didn't force you. Tight medical resources are a reality, but the final decision always rests with the attending physician."

"Then what was I supposed to do?"

I finally broke down crying.

"Stopping vaccinations wasn't an option. Destroying the vaccine wasn't an option. I told you the test results were wrong, and none of you believed me!

"You all said VRX-17 was absolutely safe. What else could I have done?"

The corridor fell briefly silent.

Caine looked at me and spoke in a low, steady voice.

"Then test it again.

"She flagged the problem before the incident, not after."

Those words gave me hope again.

I grabbed Aaron's arm.

"Yes, right now!

"Don't send the vaccine to the lab. Do it right here, in front of everyone!"

Derek sneered.

"Fine. Go ahead.

"I'd love to see what's supposedly wrong with a vaccine that just passed safety certification."

Aaron looked around the room. To calm the families, he ultimately agreed to run the tests on the spot.

"Only rapid screening can be done here. Official results still need to come from the independent laboratory under the Medical Council.

"Everyone step back. Don't disturb the samples or the scene records."

Aaron changed into protective gear and walked over to the sealed medication cart.

He first verified the cold storage temperature and system registration, then inspected the syringe packaging, seals, and batch labels.

Then he randomly selected three doses of VRX-17 from the tray and ran a viral screening.

"All negative. No contamination detected."

"That's impossible!"

I stumbled forward.

"Let me try. I'll do it myself!"

Aaron exchanged a glance with Alaric, and they ultimately allowed me to retest under camera surveillance.

Ignoring the blood on my hands, I immediately swapped out the reagents and tested the remaining syringes one by one.

One. Two. Three.

Every single result came back normal.

My entire body went rigid.

Impossible.

Those pups had clearly fallen ill within minutes of being injected. The symptoms were identical to my past life.

But now, why was every syringe coming back negative?

Behind me, angry murmurs started to build.

"The vaccine's fine, isn't it?"

"She was lying the whole time!"

"She deliberately asked for a public test. What an actress."

Derek stared at me, unblinking.

"Didn't you say the vaccine was contaminated?

"So where's the contamination?"

I looked at the test strip in my hand, my voice shaking so badly the words barely came out.

"It wasn't like this before.

"Right before the children fell ill, the nurse had just switched to a new batch of syringes.

"Something has to be wrong with that batch..."

Aaron sighed.

"Dr. Hart, when I tested the vaccine before the incident, it was normal.

"Now, after the children fell ill, the remaining doses at the scene still show none of the contamination you're describing.

"How am I supposed to believe you?"

Caine, who had just spoken in my defense, fell silent too.

He could attest that I'd called off the vaccinations early and demanded retesting, but he couldn't prove VRX-17 was contaminated.

And the on-site testing I'd insisted on had only become new evidence that I was lying.

Chapter 6

The pack hospital descended into chaos. Ambulances kept ferrying infected children to the quarantine center.

Watching those children convulse and gasp for air, I couldn't hold it together anymore.

I dropped to my knees in the pediatric corridor, sobbing until my voice broke.

"I'm sorry. I didn't do this on purpose. Please believe me.

"VRX-17 really is contaminated."

I didn't know how to explain it.

Aaron's first test had shown nothing wrong.

I had double-checked everything before resuming the injections, and the earlier children had all been fine.

But less than half an hour later, after the nurse brought in new syringes, the infections reappeared.

The families surrounded me, the parents of the less seriously affected children closing in.

"This is a new vaccine purchased with funds allocated by the Alpha King. How could there be a problem?"

"If even this vaccine isn't safe, the pack hospital should be shut down!"

"Open your eyes and look at these children! They're like this because of you!"

"Just because she's the director's fiancee, she thinks she can use children as test subjects?"

Despair, grief, and terror crushed down on me until I couldn't breathe.

I opened my mouth, but beyond "I'm sorry," I couldn't form a single complete sentence.

The furious families looked ready to tear me apart on the spot.

Perhaps because of the devastation written across my face, or perhaps to calm the crowd, Aaron finally spoke up.

"Everyone, settle down. The medical team will do everything they can to treat the pups.

"As for the cause of the incident, the pack guards and the Medical Council will conduct a joint investigation.

"We will give every family an answer."

Late that night, I was taken to the pack guards' investigation center.

The moment I walked in, I saw Mom and Dad waiting anxiously in the corridor.

I threw myself into their arms, repeating the words I'd said more than any others that day.

"I'm sorry, but the vaccine really is contaminated. I didn't deliberately hurt those children."

Their tears fell instantly, and they held me tight.

"Evelyn, we believe you.

"And we believe the investigation will find the truth."

They stayed with me, waiting for the test results.

Throughout the night, families of the victims kept arriving at the investigation center. The moment any of them saw me, they erupted in curses.

I understood their pain. All I could do was apologize and explain, over and over.

My parents had lived with dignity their entire lives, and now they stood beside me absorbing every accusation.

Eventually, Mom collapsed. Between the emotional toll and the crushing pressure radiating from several furious Alphas, she couldn't take it anymore and fainted.

The impact of this incident was enormous. The preliminary test results arrived quickly.

The next morning, Noah Lawson, director of the investigation center, walked into the interrogation room with a report. His expression was ice-cold.

"Evelyn, the VRX-17 sealed by the hospital shows no sign of viral contamination.

"The batch numbers, cold chain records, and administration logs are all in order.

"You are suspected of unauthorized expansion of the vaccination scope resulting in a major medical incident. The pack guards are placing you under formal arrest."

Hearing those words, my parents froze for a moment before their eyes filled with tears.

Mom clutched Noah's hand and pleaded.

"Could you please run the tests one more time? My daughter would never make this kind of mistake."

Dad took the report and pointed to the testing procedures.

"She's been a doctor for fifteen years. She couldn't possibly confuse a positive and a negative result. Something must have been missed."

Noah's face held both anger and reluctance.

"I understand she's your only daughter, but the injured and dead pups are even more innocent."

The world spun around me, and I collapsed into the chair.

Why? What had gone wrong?

The handcuffs locked around my wrists, and the cold metal sent a jolt through my body.

I lowered my head and suddenly remembered the batch number in the lab report.

Had the hospital actually sent the same drugs that had been injected into the children?

I shot to my feet.

"I know. I know where the problem is!"

Chapter 7

"Please take these restraint cuffs off first."

Noah frowned, unsure what I was about to do.

I shook my wrists urgently. All I wanted was to prove my theory.

VRX-17 itself wasn't the problem. The vaccine the hospital had sealed wasn't the problem either.

The only thing that could be wrong was the batch that had been injected into the children.

"I won't run. My parents are right here.

"Give me ten minutes. Let me look at the empty vials from the scene."

Noah's expression was cold.

"Evelyn, we already gave you a chance to explain.

"The test results are right here. Stalling won't change anything."

"I'm not stalling!"

My eyes burned with unshed tears.

"Every child who fell ill received a dose from the last tray the nurse brought in.

"I kept thinking VRX-17 itself was the problem, but what if what had been swapped wasn't the whole batch?

"What if only the syringes in that one tray were switched out?"

Noah didn't understand how I planned to prove it, but he removed the restraint cuffs and brought over the empty vials collected from the scene.

I didn't run. I rushed straight to the interrogation table.

He flinched and immediately followed.

I lined up the lab report and the empty vials in a row, then picked up the magnifying glass from the table.

The report showed the VRX-17 batch the hospital had submitted for testing: 0719-B.

The labels on the empty vials also read 0719-B.

But legitimate vaccines didn't only have an external label. The bottom of every glass vial bore a laser-etched code that couldn't be removed.

I flipped over the first empty vial.

0719-B.

The second was also 0719-B.

But when I reached the fifth vial, the number on the bottom read 0719-X.

My breath stopped.

The external label said 0719-B. The laser code on the bottom said 0719-X.

They weren't from the same batch at all.

I picked up another empty vial from one of the infected children.

The bottom still read 0719-X.

Noah watched my hands, his expression growing more serious by the second.

"What exactly are you looking for?"

"The labels."

I dug my fingernail under the edge of a label, but couldn't peel it off no matter how hard I tried.

My parents didn't know what I'd found, but they helped explain to Noah.

"Let her finish. She's taken patients' lives seriously for as long as I can remember."

"If she finds nothing, we won't interfere with the investigation."

Noah paused, then took a pair of fine tweezers from the evidence toolkit.

I used the tweezers to pry up the edge of the label.

The first layer bore VRX-17 and 0719-B.

But beneath the film, there was a second label underneath.

It had no VRX-17 designation. Only an unfamiliar supply code and 0719-X.

The color drained from every face in the room.

I peeled open a second vial, then a third.

Every 0719-X vial had the same double-layered label.

What the hospital had sealed and sent for testing was the legitimate 0719-B.

What had actually been injected into the children was 0719-X, disguised with a fake label.

Looking at the two layers of labels on the table, I could finally breathe again.

"The vaccine didn't magically pass its tests.

"Someone mixed contaminated syringes into the legitimate batch, then swapped out the remaining evidence after the incident."

I looked up at Noah.

"Bring in a drug authentication expert.

"This wasn't an ordinary medical incident. Someone deliberately used children's lives to frame me."

Chapter 8

Hearing those words, Noah's expression changed completely.

He immediately contacted the Medical Council and brought in Owen Webb, a drug authentication expert.

When Owen arrived, he assumed it was just a labeling error.

But after examining the vials, his face grew darker and darker.

"The outer labels use the hospital's official security film, and the printed codes check out in the system.

"But the caps show signs of secondary sealing, and the laser codes on the bottom don't match any VRX-17 production records."

I immediately recounted the full sequence of events.

Owen picked up two vials and compared them.

"The 0719-B vials the hospital sent for testing are legitimate, which is why results kept coming back normal.

"The 0719-X vials were disguised with 0719-B labels. Looking only at the system and outer packaging, it would be difficult to spot the difference."

Noah frowned.

"But within the same tray, why were some children fine while others were infected?"

I set the two vials on the table.

"Because the legitimate and contaminated syringes were mixed together.

"The children who received 0719-B doses were fine. The infections only started once we began using the 0719-X doses."

Owen nodded.

"Theoretically, yes. As long as whoever made the switch controlled the number of contaminated doses, it would create intermittent cases.

"During random spot-checks, the technician would pull legitimate doses, and the results would naturally come back negative.

"After the incident, swap out the remaining 0719-X, and only the normal batch is left at the scene."

The look in Noah's eyes finally shifted.

But he quickly raised a new concern.

"Right now, all we can prove is that the vaccine was switched.

"We still have no evidence showing who applied the labels or placed the contaminated syringes in the tray.

"And you're the attending physician. The person with the easiest access to those drugs."

"I'll cooperate fully with the investigation."

I met his gaze without flinching.

"You can check my phone, my accounts, my office, and every medical record I've ever filed.

"But that last tray didn't come from me. I didn't retrieve it from the pharmacy."

Noah asked immediately.

"Who delivered it?"

"The nurse on duty brought it into the treatment room."

"Why did the nurse switch trays?"

I closed my eyes and replayed everything that had happened before the incident.

That nurse wasn't normally assigned to vaccine preparation.

She had told me the original nurse had been pulled to the ER on short notice, so she was stepping in.

At the time, I'd been busy checking on the children and hadn't questioned who had changed the schedule.

But the number of people with the authority to reassign nurses, access the cold storage, and modify project protocols was very small.

"Who was in charge of staffing for this vaccination session?"

"The project's deputy director."

"Name."

My hands clenched into fists, nails digging into my palms.

In my past life, my parents had traveled from pack to pack carrying evidence to appeal my case, only to die branded as accomplices.

Among the infected children, some were paralyzed for life. Some didn't survive to see the next day.

And I'd gone to my grave swallowing wolfsbane, never knowing where I'd truly lost.

In this life, if I hadn't found those double-layered labels, every tragedy would have repeated itself.

Rage blazed like fire in my chest.

"Vanessa Hart."

Noah looked at me.

"Who is she?"

"My adopted sister. Deputy chief of pediatrics.

"And the deputy director of the VRX-17 project."

Chapter 9

Noah looked bewildered.

"She's your adopted sister and the deputy project director. Why would she want to harm you?"

"Because she wanted my position. And my fiance."

Vanessa had lost her parents when she was young, and mine had taken her in.

They gave her our family name and registered a formal adoption with the Pack Council.

All these years, no one in our family had ever called her "adopted."

I certainly never treated her as an outsider.

We grew up together and enrolled in medical school one after the other.

She studied pediatrics and joined the pack hospital after graduation.

For years, she'd been convinced she was just as good as me.

When the Medical Council decided to introduce VRX-17, the position of pediatric chief was vacant.

Whoever successfully completed the project would be the frontrunner for the role.

Vanessa had backed a high-priced vaccine from a different supplier.

After reviewing the paperwork, I found incomplete quality inspection records from that supplier and insisted on VRX-17, which had full documentation.

The Medical Council adopted my proposal and appointed me project director.

Alaric even announced at the meeting that the hospital would choose either Vanessa or me as the new pediatric chief once the project concluded.

From that day on, the way she looked at me changed.

Vanessa picked a huge fight with me over it.

"You only joined the hospital a few years before me. Why does everything good always go to you?

"Our parents favor you, Alaric only has eyes for you, and now even the chief position is going to you!"

At the time, I'd chalked it up to her being a sore loser.

After all, Alaric was my fiance and the hospital director.

Vanessa frequently went over my head to report directly to him. I'd reminded her a few times, but she accused me of bringing personal feelings into the workplace.

Just before VRX-17 was officially entered into inventory, she suddenly came to me with an apology.

"I'm sorry I was so impulsive before.

"The project is yours. I won't fight you for it anymore. Leave the inventory, scheduling, and logistics to me. You just focus on the children."

I'd thought she had finally come around.

On vaccination day, she handled the cold storage handoff and nurse scheduling herself.

The last tray delivered to the treatment room had been signed off by her.

She knew the testing schedules, the sampling locations, and the cold storage access protocols better than anyone.

She'd even participated in the rehearsal for what to seal and which records to hand over to the Medical Council after an incident.

Noah's expression turned serious once he'd heard all of this.

"That alone still doesn't prove she switched the syringes."

"I know.

"So start by checking her access logs, communications, and procurement records.

"0719-X was clearly prepared in advance. Vanessa couldn't have found a batch of contaminated drugs on short notice.

"If she's been working with an outside supplier, the same kind of incident may have happened at other hospitals."

My theory made sense, and the investigation center immediately widened its scope.

Once I saw the case finally gaining traction, I turned to my parents.

"You two should go home and rest."

They'd been up with me all night. Mom had only just woken from fainting, and both of them looked utterly spent.

But they were worried about me and refused to leave.

I deliberately put on a stern face.

"If you don't go, I'll have the pack guards escort you home."

Mom finally cracked a smile and tapped my forehead.

"Even now, you're trying to scare us."

They knew I was just worried about their health.

Dad squeezed my hand.

"Then I'll take your mother home. Call us the moment anything happens.

"We'll rest for a few hours and come right back. Make sure you eat something."

My eyes stung instantly.

At a time like this, my parents were the only ones who remembered I hadn't eaten all day.

I held back my tears and walked them out of the investigation center.

Chapter 10

The moment they left, Noah hurried over.

"Evelyn, the infection numbers are in."

My heart shot into my throat. My hands shook uncontrollably.

In my past life, twenty-four children had been infected. Two died.

The youngest was only five years old.

When he was brought to the ICU, he was still clutching the wolf toy his mother had given him.

I would never forget the way his mother looked at me in court.

She asked me, through the railing, why I'd used her only child as a test subject.

Seeing how pale I'd gone, Noah spoke quickly.

"No fatalities. Two children are in serious condition, and ten have mild infections.

"The critically ill children are receiving antiviral treatment. Their vital signs are stable."

My legs buckled. I grabbed the wall to keep from falling.

"What about the boy who was first in the treatment room?"

Noah flipped through the records.

"He wasn't injected. You stopped the nurse in time. He's not on the infection list."

I covered my mouth as tears flooded out.

Thank God.

In this life, I'd halted the vaccinations early and triggered isolation the moment symptoms appeared.

The child who hadn't survived in my past life wasn't the first child infected this time.

I had finally changed at least part of the tragedy.

"The hospital surveillance footage has been retrieved as well."

Noah continued.

"The footage shows you calling off the project before the incident and requesting vaccine recall and retesting.

"Caine's testimony and the surveillance corroborate each other, confirming you took action after identifying the abnormality."

I nodded hard.

"I was trying to protect those children the entire time."

"We only follow the evidence."

Noah glanced at the vials in the evidence bag.

"Right now, the most important thing is finding out where 0719-X came from and who mixed it into the treatment tray."

Just as he finished speaking, a commotion erupted outside the investigation center.

The families of the two critically ill children burst in.

When Claire Collins spotted me, she marched straight to the table and slammed her phone down.

"Why hasn't she been locked up?

"It's all over the internet. She injected all those children with a contaminated vaccine, and the pack guards are letting her walk around freely?"

On the screen was a video of me kneeling in the pediatric corridor, crying and apologizing.

More than ten thousand comments already filled the thread.

[The director's fiancee experimenting on children. Of course someone's protecting her.]

[The vaccine tested normal. She clearly violated protocol.]

[She needs to be tried in Werewolf Court.]

Before I could explain, Derek cut in, his eyes rimmed red.

"My son is still lying in the quarantine center.

"The doctors say even if they control the infection, there could be permanent nerve damage.

"You say the vaccine was switched, and that's supposed to make all of this disappear?"

"No."

I looked at him.

"Those injections were given in my treatment room. I will bear every responsibility that is mine to bear.

"But this wasn't a routine error, and I certainly didn't cause it deliberately.

"Someone put counterfeit labels on contaminated syringes and mixed them into the VRX-17 supply."

Claire sneered.

"First you blame the vaccine. Now you blame the labels?

"What's tomorrow's excuse? That the needle walked into the children's veins by itself?"

Noah stepped between us and explained Owen's preliminary findings.