Chapter 6
I followed Philip's gaze.
It was a diagnosis report.
At the signature line, my name was written there: [Natalie Moore.]
My own handwriting.
His brows furrowed deeply.
He grabbed the report in a rush.
He read every line from start to finish.
The more he read, the more he started to tremble.
With a bang, he slammed the report down on the doctor's desk.
"What is this?" His chest heaved.
He pressed the doctor, his tone tense and impatient. "What does this mean? 'Severe heart failure'? Are you saying she won't even make it through the month?"
The doctor glanced at the report. "Ah, Ms. Moore had a hereditary heart condition. She was actually about to get her surgery.
"But then you came in, Mr. Moore. You insisted your sister get the donor heart first. No matter what.
"So I had to move Ms. Moore back in the queue, but for some reason, she never returned."
Philip took a few steps back in shock.
It hit him then.
Mom had been bedridden because of heart issues.
But it never crossed his mind that I might have inherited it too.
Seeing this, Dakota quickly grabbed his hand. "Philip, get a hold of yourself. Natalie always looked perfectly healthy. Why would she even need to go through that surgery?
"This has to be some scheme. She probably teamed up with the doctor just to tug at your heartstrings."
Philip's eyes cleared.
His hands stopped shaking.
I watched it all with icy indifference.
Deep down, I'd always known.
When it came to me and Dakota, he would always believe her over me.
Sure enough, Philip shot the doctor a fierce glare.
"I don't care how much Natalie paid you. Don't you dare try to con me along with her!" Philip snapped.
The doctor gave him a resigned look and started to say something else.
But Philip acted like he couldn't bear to hear another word, like he was scared of what came next.
He spun around and stormed out.
*****
As soon as Philip got in the car, he couldn't wait to pull out his phone.
He took me off his block list and started dialing again and again.
But no one picked up.
He started firing off texts.
He wrote: [Natalie, since when did you start pulling a sympathy stunt? Teaming up with a doctor to fool me?
[Get home right now. Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?
[Don't play like you disappeared. If I have to find you myself, you'll regret it!
[I've already applied to a school for you. If you don't reply by midnight, forget it.]
Every message went unanswered.
Philip was clearly freaking out.
Just then, Carl called.
"Any news on Natalie?" Philip asked.
There was a brief pause on the other end.
"Mr. Moore, we still haven't found her, but we did track down the guy who secretly filmed the video," Carl said.
Carl added, "And we found some other things. You'll want to hear this in person."
*****
I sat beside Philip.
He sped home like something was chasing him.
A thought started to form in my mind.
Back at home, that man was there. The one who made my skin crawl.
He was on his knees on the floor, cowering in fear.
When he saw Philip walk in, he scrambled over.
Bawling and begging, he threw himself at Philip's feet.
"Mr. Moore. I swear, I didn't mean to. It was all Dakota. She made me do it!" the man cried out.
At that, Philip's gaze turned icy.
He slugged the man hard right in the face.
"What are you talking about? You dare accuse someone from the Moore family?" Philip snapped.
Blood poured from the man's nose. He didn't even dare raise a hand to wipe it.
He clung desperately to Philip's pant leg, begging for mercy.
The man wailed, "It's true, Mr. Moore! Dakota gave the orders. She told us to plaster Natalie's place with flyers. And after that, we'd release the videos online.
"I didn't want to at first. I said Ms. Natalie Moore always carried herself like she was above it all. No way she'd do something like that for a little money.
"But Dakota said she was dying. That she'd do whatever it took to survive.
"And on the anniversary of Mrs. Moore's passing, Dakota sent us up there early to paint the grave.
"I've got all the records. Mr. Moore, just take a look. You'll see for yourself."
Philip's face grew darker with each word.
He spoke through clenched teeth, "You knew Natalie was sick too?"
The man froze. He never thought Philip would actually care about that.
But under Philip's chilling stare, he quickly nodded.
Philip's whole body started to shake. He could barely stand.
Carl's face twisted with sympathy. He kicked the man hard.
Carl said, "Anything else? Tell Mr. Moore everything you know."
I leaned in, all ears.
I wanted to hear what else he had to say.
The man began to speak, "And your mother. Back then, it was Dakota who told us to..." He stopped short, leaving the sentence hanging.
Something clicked in Philip's mind. He froze. His breath caught.
After a long pause, it finally sank in.
"What did you just say?" Philip asked. "Who put you up to this? Do you even know what'll happen if you try to fool me?"
The man trembled all over.
With shaking hands, he pulled out a video.
"I wouldn't dare lie to you, Mr. Moore. Back then, we were afraid Dakota wouldn't pay us the rest, so we kept some evidence, just in case," the man stammered.
The footage was filmed from a hidden angle.
The camera caught half of Dakota's face.
Her usual innocent charm was gone.
Her expression was filled with pure spite and viciousness.
Dakota sneered, "Do a good job this time, and you'll have plenty of ways to make money later.
"That old woman. If she hadn't always favored Natalie over me, I wouldn't have been so eager to act.
"Right now, Philip only cares about me. He'll never suspect a thing. Once Natalie is out of the picture, everything in the Moore family will be mine."
It was just as I thought.
But Philip's face crumbled.
He murmured, "No way. Did I really wrong Natalie? Did I protect the one who killed Mom? And because of her, did I let my real sister suffer all these years?"
Listening to Philip drown in regret, I felt nothing.
It didn't stir a single emotion in me.
Things didn't add up back then.
A lot of people told him to look into it.
But he was stubborn. He was sure I was just a spoiled brat.
Now he was full of regret. What good did that do?
Just then, Dakota opened the door and walked in.
"Philip, how could you leave me all alone at the hospital? If you keep ignoring me, I won't like you anymore," she pouted.