Mark stood. “Daniel, I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Daniel didn’t sit right away. He stared at Dr. Patel.
Mark said, “There was a complication during treatment involving a known allergy. This should not have happened.”
Daniel’s voice came out flat. “So it was a mistake.”
Mark nodded once.
Daniel rubbed his face with both hands.
Then Mark slid a folder across the table.
On top was a check.
Even through the grainy footage, the amount looked obscene.
“We can resolve this quietly,” Mark said. “No lawsuit. No press. Cause of death recorded under her underlying condition.”
Daniel rubbed his face with both hands.
Mark’s voice softened. “Litigation is invasive. It will be years of depositions. It will pull your wife’s medical history into the public record. Your family deserves peace.”
Mark slid the pen closer.
Daniel swallowed.
He asked, “If I sign, this ends?”
“Yes,” Mark said.
Daniel stared at the check.
Then he said the sentence that split my life in two.
“She doesn’t need to know the details.”
Mark slid the pen closer.
Hannah tried to stop it.
Daniel signed.
Mark smiled. “Thank you for being reasonable.”
The video ended.
Grace didn’t die from a mysterious illness.
Grace died because someone ignored a screaming allergy warning.
Hannah tried to stop it.
I made backups.
Mark covered it up.
And Daniel helped them.
