Mason: Cartel money?! What are you talking about, Detective?![cite: 1] We run a real estate firm![cite: 1]
Officer Brenda: Your real estate firm is a front, Mason[cite: 1]. Your mother has been cleaning offshore capital through Dallas luxury properties for six years[cite: 1].
Victoria: This is an outrageous lie! I am a respected philanthropist in Texas![cite: 1] I have donated millions to state hospitals![cite: 1]
Officer Brenda: You donated money to this specific hospital so you could buy off the head chief of surgery, Dr. Robert Sterling[cite: 1].
Mason stepped away from the wall, looking at the long sutured scar running down Clara's leg[cite: 1].
Mason: Dr. Sterling is my uncle... He performed Clara's surgery yesterday morning[cite: 1].
Officer Brenda: He didn't just perform surgery, Mason[cite: 1]. We intercepted the medical notes he uploaded to the private server an hour ago[cite: 1]. He intentionally placed a defective titanium rod inside her leg bone[cite: 1].
Mason: A defective rod?! Why would he do that to her?![cite: 1]
Officer Brenda: So she would suffer permanent nerve damage and never be able to walk down to the federal courthouse to testify against Victoria[cite: 1].
Victoria sneered, turning her back to the detective and smoothing down the front of her dark velvet blazer[cite: 1].
Victoria: You have no proof of medical tampering[cite: 1]. Dr. Sterling is an award-winning orthopedic specialist[cite: 1]. His medical decisions are protected under clinical discretion[cite: 1].
Officer Brenda: Is that why Dr. Sterling is currently being cuffed in Operating Room 3?[cite: 1]
Victoria froze, her shoulders dropping an inch as her cold mask began to crack wide open[cite: 1].
Victoria: You... you arrested Robert?[cite: 1]
Officer Brenda: The Texas Rangers and the FBI raided his office ten minutes ago[cite: 1]. We found three hundred thousand dollars in unmarked cash inside his private wall safe, right next to Clara's original, unedited X-rays[cite: 1].
Mason: The original X-rays... show her leg before the surgery?[cite: 1]
Officer Brenda: Her leg was fractured from the assault, but it didn't require a metal plate or a sutured scar like that[cite: 1]. Dr. Sterling sliced her leg open purely to fabricate a surgical complication on your mother's orders[cite: 1].
Mason turned to Victoria, his voice trembling with a terrifying blend of heartbreak and pure disgust[cite: 1].
Mason: You paid my own uncle to butcher my wife on an operating table?![cite: 1]
Victoria: I did what was necessary to protect our name, Mason![cite: 1] If Clara spoke to the grand jury, the federal government would have seized our mansion, our bank accounts, and our land![cite: 1] You would have been left with nothing![cite: 1]
Mason: I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE MONEY![cite: 1]
Victoria: You say that now because you've lived a soft life on my trust fund![cite: 1] You enjoy the luxury cars! You enjoy the mansions! You think those things pay for themselves?![cite: 1]
Mason: I would live in a cardboard box on the street before taking another dollar coated in her blood![cite: 1]
On the bed, a soft, dry gasp came from the pillows[cite: 1]. Clara's eyes fluttered open, her pale face turning toward the sound of Mason's voice[cite: 1].
Clara: Ma... Mason...?[cite: 1]
Mason: Clara! Oh God, Clara, I'm here![cite: 1]
Mason rushed back to the bedside, dropping to his knees and gently grabbing her slender hand[cite: 1]. Her fingers were icy cold, but she squeezed his hand with whatever faint strength she had left[cite: 1].
Clara: Don't... don't let her touch me again... please...[cite: 1]
Mason: She will never touch you again, baby[cite: 1]. I promise you on my life, it's over[cite: 1].
Officer Brenda: That's right, Clara[cite: 1]. You're safe now[cite: 1]. The state police are taking over the entire facility[cite: 1].
Victoria took two steps toward the hospital door, slipping her hand into her designer handbag[cite: 1].
Officer Brenda: Take your hand out of that bag, Victoria, or I will drop you right where you stand[cite: 1].