He regretted it instantly.
Not because it was unfair.
Because he had exposed what he felt.
Claire slowly stepped back.
“My job?”
Nicholas said nothing.
Claire continued.
“I stayed.”
“There it is.”
“What?”
“You always remind me.”
Her face tightened.
“Because you forget.”
Nicholas looked at her.
“You remind me that you stayed after the accident like I owe you.”
Claire’s eyes filled with tears.
Nicholas had once admired those tears.
Now he wondered how many were voluntary.
She whispered:
“I gave up my life.”
Nicholas’s voice lowered.
“For what?”
“To take care of you.”
“Hannah takes care of me.”
Claire’s face hardened.
“Then marry her.”
She walked away.
Nicholas watched.
Hannah stood near the doorway.
Awkward.
He looked at her.
“Say nothing.”
“I wasn't going to.”
“Good.”
Then:
“She’s right.”
Hannah stared.
“About what?”
“You take care of me.”
“That’s my job.”
Nicholas looked toward the doorway where Claire disappeared.
“Exactly.”
The suspicion began as something small.
Three days later, Hannah prepared Nicholas’s morning medication.
She opened a bottle she had refilled from the pharmacy two weeks earlier.
Something looked wrong.
The tablets appeared slightly different.
Same general color.
Different shape.
She checked the label.
Then her medication reference.
Then the pharmacy image.
The tablets did not match.
Hannah’s stomach tightened.
She looked at the bottle again.
Maybe generic manufacturer variation.
Possible.
She called the pharmacy.
The pharmacist confirmed no manufacturer change.
Hannah checked the lot.
Correct.
She counted tablets.
Wrong quantity.
Only by two.
She said nothing.
Instead, she secured the bottle in her locked nursing cabinet and replaced the dose using a sealed backup supply.
Nicholas felt better that afternoon.
Hannah noticed.
One improved afternoon proved nothing.
The next morning, she tested the pattern.
Again, she used sealed medication.
Nicholas remained clearer.
Day three.
Same.
Hannah’s suspicion became real enough to frighten her.
She checked cabinet access.
Only Hannah had the key.
But the medications had previously been stored in Nicholas’s bedroom drawer before she changed the system.
Claire had access.
Walter occasionally entered.
House staff.
Security.
Nicholas himself.
Possibilities remained.
Hannah did not accuse anyone.
That was important.
She photographed the tablets.
Logged times.
Contacted Nicholas’s physician privately.
The doctor instructed her to isolate the questionable medication and arrange toxicology testing.
Hannah did.
Then she found something worse.
A second bottle.
Another mismatch.
Different evening medication.
Two unidentified tablets hidden among legitimate ones.
Not random.
Someone had tampered with more than one supply.
Hannah’s hands shook when she sealed the samples.
For the first time since arriving at the mansion, she felt afraid of the house.
Not Nicholas.
The house.
Too many doors.
Too many people loyal for reasons she did not understand.
Too much money capable of making ordinary problems disappear.
She considered telling Walter.
Then stopped.
She did not know who to trust.
She considered calling police.
No.
Not yet.
Unknown tablets did not automatically prove deliberate poisoning.
They could be error.
Contamination.
Old medicine accidentally mixed.
She needed evidence.
So she changed everything quietly.
All medication moved to her locked cabinet.
Nicholas watched.
“Why?”
“Inventory issue.”