08
The Rolls–Royce screeched to a halt at the hospital. A medical team was waiting, and I was immediately wheeled into the emerge
ncy room.
Caleb stood frozen in the hallway, clutching my backpack.
A phone rang. He spun around, disoriented, before realizing the sound was coming from my bag. He pulled out my phone.
“Mr. Evans? You finally answered. Our analysis is complete. The recording on your device was, in fact, synthesized using an Al prog- ram with a sample of your voice. If you need it, we can provide official certification and even trace the IP address of the person who
created it-”
“What recording? Caleb cut in, his voice hollow. “Who is this?”
“We’re a professional Al detection agency,” the man on the other end explained. “A few weeks ago, a Mr. Leo Evans came to us with a voice recorder. He said that although it was his voice on the recording, he had never said those words, and he asked us to verify
its authenticity.”
Caleb was stunned. The voice recorder… he murmured.
He hadn’t wanted to give it to me.
“Trying to destroy the evidence?” he’d sneered, his eyes cold. “It’s useless, Leo. I won’t be fooled by you again.”
I had shaken my head, trying to explain that I’d never said those things. That I wanted to stay, yes, but I had never planned to decel- ve him. That my feelings for him were real.
But he didn’t believe me. He’d thrown the recorder on the fl
floor. “Then take it and listen to it a few more times.”
it to the experts.
I had listened, over and over, but I couldn’t find any flaw, any proof of forgery. That’s why I had to take it to t
If only they had figured it out sooner. I could have taken the proof to Finn, confronted him, and then demanded an apology from Caleb.
But it was too late.
None of it mattered anymore.
“Sir?” the voice on the phone broke the silence. “Could you please pass the results on to Mr. Evans?”
Understanding davined on Caleb’s face, a sudden, terrible clarity.
“Yes,” he said, his voice eerily calm. “I’ll tell him. And I’ll apologize to him.”
The line went dead, but Caleb kept the phone pressed to his ear, whispering to himself.
“Apologize to him. I have to apologize to Leo. Iwas wrong…
The door to the ER swung open, and a doctor emerged.
Caleb snapped back to life, his face filled with desperate hope as he rushed forward.
“My brother–he’s okay now, right?”
The doctor’s expression was grim. He slowly shook his head.
“I’m so sorry, Mr. Kane.”
“The patient was already deceased upon arrival
