"Congratulations on the success of your plan," Ben said as he gently pushed the gurney through the dimly lit corridor, his palms sweating despite the chill in the hospital air as he moved the thing away from the ICU.
He paused at the doorway to the small private room before nudging it open with his shoulder and explaining, "Everything went exactly as you predicted. And now when the police co to take him, there will be soone else in his place."
"Thank you, Ben," ca the calm, almost amused reply from the woman standing by the window, her face obscured by the shadows cast by the heavy blinds. "It would not have been possible without you. I will make sure to rember this."
Ben shook his head at the complint even as he tried to eagerly see the face of his benefactor to judge who she was. But it seed impossible given the darkness so he cleared his throat, and mumbled as he looked at the man on the gurney, "Of course... I don’t deserve this thanks. After all, if it hadn’t been for you... I never would’ve gotten out of that ss with Spencer. You gave a way out—more than that. You gave a chance to keep my conscience clear, sothing I never thought I’d have. If you had not called with your plan, I would have been forced to beco a murderer by that Spencer Collins. You gave the money to move my mother from under Spencer’s thumb while not having to kill... I’ll forever be grateful to you."
"I’ll take my leave now," Ben said, taking a step back toward the door. He hesitated only briefly, as if waiting for her to stop him but when she didn’t he said softly," Goodbye." And walked out of the room, breathing a sigh of relief.
How had things changed so much? He’d been a simple employee who didn’t like Madam Collins and had thrown the woman out. From that he had been promoted to beco the assistant for lanie Collins.
But then Spencer ca.
At first, it was just one small favor. A question here, a request there. And then, a sum of money offered discreetly in exchange for harmless updates. Harmless—at least, that’s what he had convinced himself. What harm could there possibly be in sharing little things? A schedule. A eting. A disagreent. It wasn’t like he was sabotaging anything.
Except... it hadn’t stopped there.
Before he knew it, he was caught in a web of favors that only ever grew more tangled. The requests from Spencer Collins never ended. One day it was feeding false information to the press to tarnish lanie’s image. Another day, it was arranging events to ensure she’d miss sothing important, or conveniently "forget" sothing she had planned.
The worst of it ca when Spencer had forced him to confess to having feelings for lanie. He still rembered how awkward and humiliating that mont had been—standing there, fumbling over words he didn’t an, all for the sake of appearances. Spencer had insisted it would be a useful cover. That way, if anything ever went wrong, he could say he acted out of jealousy or infatuation. A perfect scapegoat in a neat little package.
He hated himself for going along with it.
But it was the money, always the money. To pay off his mother’s dical debts.
However, those small, seemingly harmless things had slowly shifted. They had stopped being favors and started becoming obligations. Threats. Chains around his ankles. The lies got bigger. The damage beca more permanent. And what began as a simple act of betrayal for a paycheck had turned into sothing far darker.
He wasn’t just helping Spencer anymore and getting paid in return. No. He had been forced to beco an accomplice to a murder plan and would have been forced to commit murder herself if not for that woman.
He thought back to the phone call he had received just the day before when he’d been on his way to the hospital, trying to think of a way to convince Dr Reed to kill Adam.
The woman’s voice had been like an angel when she said that she had a way out for him. All he had to do was convince the doctor to make Adam’s symptoms worst and then they would be able to kidnap Adam from there, replacing him with soone who looked too much like Adam to notice a difference.
The only person who might guess that the Adam lying dead in the hospital was a fake would be lanie Collins who was already behind bars for a double murder.
He felt a bit bad for his old boss but not much. It was her fault for being too dumb and not noticing what was going on.
Ben walked out of the hospital with a small whistle, his hands shoved into his coat pockets and a newfound lightness in his step. For the first ti in months, he felt... free.
The weight on his chest had lifted. The danger was behind him. Adam was gone, Spencer would be caught in a ss of his own making, and he had escaped without blood on his hands.
But he had only taken a few steps past the ergency wing when the figures-three, no, four-erged from the alley beside the hospital and surrounded him.
Hey, sorry, I don’t want any trouble—" he began, but he didn’t even finish the sentence.
Pain exploded in his side before he could react. Sothing sharp tore through his ribs, a flash of silver disappearing just as quickly as it ca. His body jerked violently, eyes wide with disbelief, the breath knocked clean out of him.
He stumbled backward, a hand flying to his side, and when he pulled it away, it was already soaked in red.
"Wha...?"
Another stab, this one higher. A punch to the gut for good asure. His knees gave out.
The ground ca up to et him far too fast.
He couldn’t see their faces. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t scream. All that planning, all that effort- all wasted. Hos last thought was that of his mother as blood pooled beneath him and then his limbs twitched weakly for a mont before going still.
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