The broken

tor's note. She placed them in a new folder labeled "Proof." Mason watched her in silence as she

he won't. But this time,

p in a room that didn't feel like a cage. Samantha sat near the window, laptop open, uplo

ure of him before the illness, laughing beside a man Samantha didn't recog

d toward

after a disagreement wit

ed. "You think she had s

didn't

n't ha

g, Samantha's b

She hesitated,

low, mal

to work for his father before he died. Whatev

eath caught.

to warn him once. It

pause, the

. She's already filed a report saying Maso

ne wen

her face the entire time. "We can't stay here,

said, "Then let's give her

pped the folder full of medical evidence into he

was

uploaded a private video to a legal advocacy site. In it, she laid out everything: Mason's falsified c

in the final

t dying. But I almost did-because someone decided my life was

it to three trusted news contacts, a legal hotline, and

two of them

he's telling the truth, we'll

"This doesn't bring back the time I lost. But ma

"And maybe... it helps y

, there was a k

ephole and froze. Elaine. Alone. No security, no lawyer, no pol

d forward. "

m. "You've made quite the mess," she said, l

Mason replied. "We ju

ming. If you go public with this, it won't hur

already destroyed it the moment

an envelope, and placed it on the table. "Do what you must. But don't f

d left withou

as Mason-years ago-hooked to machines, unrec

you better when

d. Mason hadn't said a word since Elaine left. The message on the back haunted

sed to think dying would be quieter," he said. "B

. "Because now you're not

an email alert p

our Story.

tional M

saw the video. And now,

happened to

or a response. But he said nothin

hrough the city streets. I

t wasn't the sil

e before the worl