Chapter 360 

Irene sat at her kitchen counter flipping through her old notes. Since quitting her job, she’d spent most days at home with the kids. putting her stuff in order. She had no clue just how low the Roberts family would sink, completely unaware that their scheming against her had already begun behind the scenes. 

Brandon’s phone suddenly rang, breaking the quiet morning peace. Out of the corner of her eye, Irene caught his expression change in a flash–his relaxed smile disappearing instantly. 

“Hey,” he answered, quickly stepping toward the hallway. 

Irene might not have noticed, except Brandon was trying way too hard to keep her from hearing. He turned his back, dropped his voice, and practically tiptoed away. Every move screamed “I’ve got a secret!” 

Pretending to be super focused on her papers, she listened in on bits of what he was saying. 

“Rose? At the hospital?” Brandon’s voice jumped up a notch. 

Irene’s hands stopped moving. Rose drama again? The thought made her both nosy and annoyed. Just hearing Rose’s name brought up a whole mess of feelings she’d rather ignore. 

Brandon ended with a whispered “I’ll be there soon,” then came back to the kitchen with his poker face on. 

“Everything cool?” Irene asked, trying to sound like she couldn’t care less. 

“Yeah, just family stuff,” Brandon mumbled, looking everywhere but at her. “No big deal.“. 

Irene kept quiet but couldn’t shake the weird feeling in her stomach. After Brandon left, she grabbed her phone and texted 

Katherine. 

Anything up with Rose Sterling at Silver City Medical? 

Katherine texted back in seconds: How’d you hear? Rose got thrown out of the hospital this morning. They told her to pack up and move 

elsewhere ASAP. 

Irene’s eyebrows shot up as her thumbs hovered over the screen. Thrown out? Why? 

From what I’ve heard, it’s the research center/hospital connection. Roberts himself ordered it after “looking at priorities again.” Looks like they’re going after anyone linked to you. 

Irene tossed her phone down and rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. So Roberts couldn’t touch her directly and was now picking on people around her instead. The whole thing was both maddening and sad. 

Her first thought was honestly: who cares what happens to Rose? The woman had picked Anna over her a million times. But the more she thought about it, the more the unfairness bugged her. Rose was getting punished just because of her connection to Irene. 

This isn’t even about Rose, she thought, it’s just Roberts trying to get under my skin however he can. 

When Brandon came back hours later, Irene caught up with him in the hallway. 

“She okay?” she asked, keeping her voice flat, definitely not calling Rose “mom.” 

Brandon looked thrown by her asking but answered right away. “She’s fine. That heart surgery you did worked great–she’s been bouncing back well. They’ve moved her to another hospital, nothing serious. 

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Chapter 360. 

He paused before adding, “Nathan’s setting things up. I’ll swing by to see her this afternoon.” 

Irene just nodded with a quick “Mm, not even hinting she might tag along. Even her guilt had its limits, after all. 

Across town at Haven Enterprise headquarters, Adam was looking through papers when Thomas burst through the door, practically bouncing with excitement. 

“Boss, we’ve hit paydirt on Dr. Martin Roberts,” Thomas announced,apping a folder on Adam’s desk. “The real dirt.” 

Adam raised an eyebrow, waving for him to get to the point. 

“Those hospitals he runs? They’re not just cutting corners,” Thomas aid, jabbing at the report. “We found a super creepy pattern of deaths–all weirdly alike.” 

“Unnatural deaths?” Adam asked, his face going cold. 

“We can’t nail him to the wall yet, but check this out,” Thomas explained, flipping pages. “People who’d gotten into fights or arguments with others would come in for emergency help–totally alive and stable at first. Then out of nowhere, they’d have ‘surprise complications‘ or ‘take a sudden turn for the worse‘ during a second treatment. None made it out alive.” 

Adam’s forehead wrinkled. “If this is real, how come nobody’s blown the whistle?” 

“Roberts covered his butt. He pinned everything on the patients themselves, saying their conditions just got worse naturally.” Thomas lowered his voice. “It’s his hospital–changing records and death papers is a piece of cake for him. Most families bought the 

story.” 

Thomas took a breath before adding, “For families who wouldn’t let it go, he just threw money at them under the table. When someone’s already gone, most people eventually take the cash.” 

Adam took it all in, keeping his face blank despite the sick feeling growing in his stomach. 

“Hand everything to the media,” he finally said. “Let them sic the authorities on him.” 

Thomas nodded quickly. “On it, Boss.” 

Before heading out, Thomas turned back. “About that other thing you wanted me to check on?” 

“The medical license stuff is all set, and we’ve found three spots that would work great. All of them check all the boxes and are ready to go whenever.” 

Adam nodded, clearly pleased. “Good. Step on the gas with this one. 

After Thomas left, Adam rolled to the window, looking out at Silver City spread below. His reflection showed ice in his eyes as he thought about Roberts threatening Irene. That doctor had no clue who he’d picked a fight with. 

Haven can’t get too mixed up in this, he figured. Every little thing we do gets picked apart by the press. Push too hard, and people might start blaming Irene for pulling Haven strings. What we found should be plenty to sink Roberts without getting us dirty. 

Adam’s fingers drummed lightly on his wheelchair, his mind already three steps ahead on how to shield Irene from whatever mess might follow. 

The next morning, Silver City exploded with bombshell headlines everywhere you looked. A big–name news site had dropped a massive story on Roberts‘ hospitals, laying out suspicious deaths and cover–ups. By lunchtime, every news outlet had jumped on it, piling on with even more dirt and stories from people who used to work there. 

Social media went crazy with hashtags calling for investigations, while TV news anchors dramatically read the most shocking bits 

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Chapter 360 

from the reports. 

At Roberts main hospital, all Hell broke loose. Patients were demanding to be moved, staff were swamped with panicky phone calls, and reporters camped outside the vultures, hoping to grab anyone qning out for a comment. 

trene swiped through headlines on her tablet, her frown getting deeper with each new story. She knew Roberts was a jerk from their one meeting, but this was a whole other level–possibly helping patients die or letting it happen–way beyond what she’d thought possible. 

How did someone this twisted end up running hospitals? she wondered, feeling sick to her stomach. 

Every new trending topic revealed something even nastier about the Roberts family business. What had started as workplace drama now looked like something much darker–a family building their medical empire on lies and possibly even morder. 

That evening, as Irene placed the electrodes for Adam’s treatment, they sat in comfortable silence, her mind still spinning from everything that had come out that day. 

“I’m thinking of investing in a research institute, Adam said out of nowhere, breaking the quiet. 

Irene hands stopped mid–air. She put down the equipment and turned to face him, surprise written all over her face. 

“You are?” she asked softly, studying his face. “Is this for me?” 

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