Chapter 5

The crowd parted to let them through.

The lead investigator and the officers walked straight to the center of the room, looking between me and Marcus.

"We received a report regarding corporate espionage and medical fraud. Who is the informant?"

Marcus raised his hand eagerly. "Me! I am!"

"I am reporting my wife, Vivian Vance, for abusing illegal drugs during pregnancy, causing severe birth defects, and for stealing our company’s trade secrets!"

"This child, the drugs in her room, and the files at our house are all the proof you need!"

The lead investigator frowned, waving his hand.

"Secure the scene. Detain everyone involved for questioning."

The officers stepped forward, but instead of walking toward me, they grabbed Marcus and Chloe.

Marcus went pale. "Wait! You have it wrong! I'm the one who reported her! Vivian is the criminal! Why are you detaining us?"

I smirked, calmly sitting up in bed.

I wiped a stray drop of water from my face and looked down at them.

"Marcus, it was a solid plan. Swap your sickly baby with mine, frame me for corporate espionage, and let me take the fall for Chloe so she could walk free."

Marcus’s face turned paper-white. "You... you're lying! You're making things up!"

"You're the one who poisoned the baby! I'm your husband, of course I know the truth!"

"Your baby is the sick one! Chloe’s baby was healthy!"

"If you don't believe me, ask the doctor!"

He screamed, desperate to prove his point. The investigators hesitated.

I let out a cold laugh, gesturing for Marcus’s bribed doctor to step forward.

Dr. Evans had taken Marcus’s money.

In my past life, he was the key witness who testified that I delivered the deformed child, presenting a fabricated toxicology report.

But this time, I had gotten to him first.

Under my watchful gaze, Dr. Evans trembled and spoke into the investigator's recorder.

"This sickly baby could not have been delivered by Mrs. Reynolds. I swear on my medical license. All of Mrs. Reynolds's prenatal records show her fetus was perfectly healthy."

"In fact, Mr. Reynolds approached me earlier, offering me a bribe to claim this sick baby belonged to his wife and to falsify a toxicology report."

The room erupted into gasps.

The onlookers who had been screaming at me were stunned. Who would have thought a husband could be so evil?

At that moment, everyone’s eyes shifted to Chloe, who was trembling behind Marcus.

Connecting the dots of what I had just said, the crowd’s murmurs turned hostile.

Chloe bit her lip, cursing the doctor in her mind.

Marcus was in pure panic. He knew if he admitted to this, his life was over.

He pointed a shaking finger at me. "You! You paid off the doctor to lie!"

"I am your husband! Why would I swap my own child and alienate myself? If I did such a thing, may God strike me down!"

Hearing his pathetic vow, I almost laughed.

Marcus really was shameless.

"My husband? Did you ever attend a single ultrasound with me? Did you ever once touch my belly to feel the baby?"

"How do you say these lies without choking?"

"Why don't you take a good look at what you're actually holding in your arms!"

The moment I said those words, Chloe’s heart dropped.

She finally understood why I had been so calm.

The bundle in Marcus's arms... wasn't a baby at all.

Seeing Marcus reach for the blanket, she screamed, "No! Don't look!"