Faking It With The Hockey Star

Justin’s POV

Nobody spoke. The heavy silence after Lilian’s last words felt heavier than anything I had ever experienced in my life. I looked from Lilian, to Grandma, and then finally to Diane. She was gripping the arm of the leather couch so tightly her knuckles had turned completely white.

Lilian took a shaky breath. "After that day, I couldn’t stop watching. I started paying attention every single day." Tears filled her eyes again. "Then... your mother became sick."

The room froze instantly.

"At first it wasn’t anything serious," Lilian explained softly. "She would complain about simple headaches, then sudden dizziness. Then she started losing weight. Doctors kept changing her medication, but nothing worked. Nothing."

I swallowed hard, the lump in my throat burning.

She continued, her voice trembling. "When she was admitted to the hospital, I thought things would finally get better. They said she had the best specialists, the best treatment, and the best care. So I kept telling myself everything would be okay." She closed her eyes tight. "But every time I prepared food for her, Miss Diane would stop me. She would say, ’I’ll take it. I’ll deliver it. I’ll stay with her. Don’t worry.’"

Lilian looked directly at Diane. "You never let anyone else carry her meals."

Diane immediately shook her head, panic twisting her face. "Because I was helping! I was helping my friend!"

Lilian ignored her completely. "I thought maybe she was just being kind. But something never felt right."

I looked over at Dad. His face had gone completely pale, all the color drained from his skin.

Lilian continued quietly. "I tried telling Mr. Richard once."

Dad slowly lifted his head, staring at her in shock.

"I told him, ’Sir... something doesn’t feel right. Please be careful.’" Her voice shook with old terror. "But he told me to stop imagining things."

Dad closed his eyes tightly, a quiet gasp escaping him. "Oh God... I thought I was protecting my wife."

Lilian wiped another tear away from her cheek. "So I stayed quiet. I was only a housekeeper. What power did I have?" The sheer weight of guilt in her voice was unbearable. "I still see your mother’s face every night. If I had spoken louder... if I had gone to the police... maybe she would still be here."

She started crying again, her shoulders shaking violently. Before anyone else in the room could move, I was already crouched beside her.

"Auntie..." I took her trembling hands in mine. "This isn’t your fault."

She looked up at me, her eyes filled with pain. "It is. I failed your mother."

"No," my voice cracked, raw with emotion. "You didn’t."

I slowly stood up to my full height, then turned my body completely toward Diane. Every muscle in my frame tightened like a pulled cable.

"What..." My voice came out barely above a whisper, laced with pure ice. "...did you do to my mother?"

The room exploded into sudden chaos.

"I didn’t do anything!" Diane shot to her feet, gesturing wildly. "This woman is lying!"

Dad stood up too, his hands out. "Everyone calm down." He looked over at me, his eyes wide. "Justin... we don’t know that any of this is true."

I stared at him in sheer disbelief. "You still don’t believe it?"

He turned his gaze toward Diane, looking almost desperately into her face. "Diane... tell me. Tell me this isn’t true. Tell me they’re mistaken."

His voice was pleading now. He wasn’t angry; he was broken. He wanted her to save him, to tell him that the last twenty years of his life hadn’t been built on a horrific lie.

Diane rushed toward him, reaching for his arms. "Richard! You know me! You know I would never hurt anyone! This family has hated me from the beginning! They’re trying to destroy us!"

Dad didn’t answer her. For the first time in his life, he simply looked at her, as if he were seeing the woman standing before him clearly for the very first time.

I stepped forward, closing the distance. "Dad. Open your eyes. Please."

Grandma finally stood up from her chair. "Enough."

Every single person in the room fell silent at the authority in her voice. She reached into the leather folder resting on the table.

"When Lilian finally agreed to speak, I started asking myself one question," Grandma said calmly. "If my daughter had the best doctors, the best hospital, and the best treatment money could buy, why did she never get better?"

She slowly removed a neat stack of medical documents.

"So... I started investigating," Grandma continued. "I obtained the official hospital records and tracked down every physician who worked on my daughter’s case." She looked directly at Diane. "And that’s when I discovered something very interesting."

I felt my heartbeat speed up, hammering hard inside my chest.

Grandma lifted one page from the stack. "The lead physician originally assigned to my daughter... was quietly replaced."

Dad frowned. "What?"

"The replacement..." She looked me straight in the eyes. "...was Dr. Murphy."

My stomach dropped into a cold, endless pit.

Grandma continued, her tone steady and unyielding. "Dr. Murphy wasn’t chosen randomly. He had a deeply personal connection."

I barely recognized my own voice when I asked, "What connection?"

Grandma slowly turned her head toward Diane. "He was Diane’s university boyfriend."

Silence. Absolute, suffocating silence descended on the living room.

I looked at Diane. For the very first time since we had walked into this house, the arrogant mask was completely gone. She looked utterly terrified.

"No..." she whispered, taking a step back. "No..."

Grandma offered a sad, heavy smile. "Oh? You think I’m lying?"

She closed the folder in her hands and looked toward the front entryway. "Officer."

The heavy front door swung open. A uniformed security officer stepped inside the foyer, and right behind him, a man in his late fifties walked slowly into the living room. He had graying hair and wore a dark navy suit, his head lowered toward the floor.

Grandma’s voice remained perfectly calm. "Please escort Dr. Murphy inside."

The man slowly lifted his eyes to the room. Mine met his, and in that exact second, every single instinct in my body screamed the terrible truth.

This man knew exactly how my mother died.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!