CHAPTER 125: CORNERED

Regina Quinn’s heels clicked sharply against the pristine floors of Zeden General Hospital, the rhythm loud and impatient.

Her perfectly styled hair didn’t sway a strand out of place, and her tailored navy pantsuit was crisp despite the rush she had left her house in. But inside, her composure was beginning to crack.

She wasn’t here for a check-up. And she definitely wasn’t here to see Eliana Howells. No. She was here for answers.

The receptionist glanced up, offering the usual polite smile. "Good morning, ma’am. How may I help you?"

"I need to speak with your manager," Regina said, her voice cool and controlled but urgent beneath the surface. "It’s regarding a private matter. Hospital security footage."

The receptionist blinked, clearly caught off guard. "One moment, ma’am. Let me check if the manager is available."

As the girl picked up the phone, Regina exhaled through her nose. Her mind raced with questions. Who had leaked the information? How had they known what Ivy said in a room with an unconscious woman? Someone must’ve been watching. Listening or perhaps recording.

She hoped not because if there was a recording—she needed it gone.

The receptionist looked up after a few seconds. "You can go in. Office is down that hall, second door to the left."

"Thank you," Regina replied, forcing a smile that never reached her eyes.

When she entered the manager’s office, the middle-aged man behind the desk stood and offered his hand. "Good morning, ma’am. You didn’t inform us beforehand about your visit. I hope all is well. How can I assist you?"

Regina sat without shaking his hand, her patience already thinning. "Mr. Harris, I’m here because I need access to the hospital’s security footage from yesterday. Specifically the hallway outside room 408—Eliana Howells’s room. It’s urgent."

The manager blinked, caught off guard by her directness. "Ma’am... I’m afraid you’re too late."

Whatever she needed it for didn’t matter at the moment as what he was more concerned about was why everyone seemed to be interested in that footage.

Hearing that, Regina’s eyes narrowed. "What do you mean too late?"

"The footage is no longer here. Two officers came by early this morning. They said the footage was needed for an ongoing investigation," he said with a small shrug, as if this was standard.

"What officers?" Regina asked quickly, sitting up straighter. "Names."

"Detectives Sterling and Jacobs," Mr. Harris replied, flipping through a small logbook. Though he didn’t owe her any explanation, he didn’t want trouble seeing as she was ordering him like she was his creator. If she wasn’t one of the hospital’s biggest sponsors, he definitely wouldn’t let her talk to him this way. He thought as he looked up from the logbook.

"Yes... here it is. Around 7:15 a.m. They had proper identification. Claimed it was urgent and needed to secure the footage before it was tampered with."

Regina blinked. The names didn’t sit right with her.

"Jacobs?" she echoed, her mind swirling. "Sterling? Are you sure that’s what they said?"

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He nodded. "That’s what the paperwork says. They signed in and out."

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Regina stood slowly. "Thank you, Mr. Harris. You’ve been... helpful."

With her jaw clenched tight and her purse gripped in her hand like a weapon, she strode out of the office.

Back in her car, Regina slammed the door shut and yanked her phone from her handbag, dialing a direct line.

"Collins," answered a man’s voice on the other end.

"It’s Regina Quinn. I need a favor. Check your current detective roster at Zeden PD. Are there any detectives by the name of Sterling or Jacobs?"

"Hold on..." the voice said, followed by the clicking of keys.

Regina drummed her long, painted nails against the steering wheel, anxiety buzzing through her veins like static. She hadn’t come all this way to be played like this. She needed to get ahead of whoever was behind this madness.

A few moments passed before Collins returned. "No detectives by those names. At least not in Zeden. You sure that’s the right name?"

Her breath hitched. A slow, cold dread settled in her chest.

"They said they were officers," she murmured, more to herself than him.

"Well, if truly they were... they weren’t local."

"Thank you, Collins," she said and hung up without waiting for a reply.

She leaned back in her seat, staring at nothing. Her thoughts spiraled.

Someone had destroyed the footage. Someone pretending to be law enforcement. Someone who knew Ivy had said something reckless and wanted to make sure it didn’t fall into the wrong hands—or maybe didn’t want it falling into Regina’s hands.

That someone was tying up loose ends and she had just been a step too late.

The sharp ring of her phone jolted her out of her thoughts. She grabbed it, barely glancing at the screen before answering.

"Ivy," she said curtly.

"Mom..." Ivy’s voice came through in hiccuped sobs. "It’s over. Stefan—he’s pushing me into a corner now. I don’t have a choice anymore. I—I have to sign the divorce papers. He has already gone public and... and I can’t fight him with all this going on. He’s using it against me, mom!"

Regina’s eyes widened, her mouth parting in pure disbelief.

"You—you what? Ivy, do you have any idea what’s at stake here?" Her voice rose like thunder. "You think now is the time to cry over spilled milk? You should’ve thought of that before you strutted into that hospital room and left a quote worthy of a damn movie villain!"

"I didn’t think anyone was there, Mom! I didn’t know—"

"You never think!" Regina snapped. "This is why I told you to let me handle Eliana. You just had to play the heartbroken wife, the jealous victim! Now look what you’ve done!"

"How would I have known it’ll come to this? I thought I was doing the right thing..." Ivy’s voice broke again.

Regina clenched her teeth, her hand balling into a tight fist on the steering wheel. "You thought wrong. And now, you’re going to do the only thing you can do. You’re going to sign those divorce papers and salvage whatever tiny thread of your reputation you have left. Let this scandal die down. Then I’ll find a way to spin it."

"But—"

"No buts, Ivy." Regina’s voice turned cold, final. "You’ve burned every bridge. The least you can do now is stop throwing gasoline on the ashes. Sign the papers. Smile for the cameras. And pray people forget. We’ll figure it out from there," Regina said and without another word, she hung up.

The silence in the car was deafening. Regina sat there for a long moment, the world outside her window moving on, blissfully unaware of the storm raging inside her.

She had lost the footage. Ivy had lost Stefan.

Their names were burning in gossip blogs and headlines, and Regina knew this was just the beginning. Whoever had started this fire wasn’t done yet. Someone was watching. Listening. Setting things up in ways they hadn’t anticipated.

She turned to stare out the window, her mind now racing with one focused, dangerous thought:

Find the person who started this.

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Because until then, nothing was safe. Not her daughter’s future. Not her family’s name. And certainly not the empire she had built with her own two hands.

Regina Quinn never lost. And she wasn’t about to start now.