Rebirth: The New Bride Wants A Divorce-Chapter 578: You have seen the news

The hospital corridor had grown quieter as the crowd of reporters slowly dispersed.

Away from the noise, Katherine and Anna sat on a bench near the end of the hallway. The sterile smell of antiseptic filled the air, while the distant beeping of medical machines echoed faintly through the walls.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke.

Katherine leaned forward with her elbows resting on her knees, her hands tightly clasped together.

"I still don’t believe Dad would do this to himself," she finally said, her voice firm despite the exhaustion in her eyes. "I met him recently, Anna. He seemed completely normal."

Her mind kept replaying that meeting.

Hugo had spoken about business matters, about small family discussions, even about dinner plans for the coming week. There had been nothing unusual in his tone.

No sadness.

No despair.

Nothing that suggested he was on the verge of destroying himself.

"He wasn’t acting like someone under pressure," Katherine continued. "If anything, he looked calm."

Anna nodded slowly.

"I agree with you," she said quietly. "But whatever has happened cannot simply be ignored."

Katherine turned toward her.

"Attempting suicide is not something small," Anna continued. "And now he is lying inside that room in a coma because of it."

Her voice carried a quiet heaviness.

She wanted to dismiss the darker possibilities surrounding the situation. She wanted to believe that it was simply a tragic mistake.

But the more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt.

"Something about this doesn’t feel right," Anna admitted.

Katherine frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Anna hesitated for a moment before answering.

"To clear my doubts, I spoke to some of the staff at the Bennett house," she said.

Katherine straightened slightly.

"What did they say?"

"They told me that everything was normal until the afternoon," Anna replied. "Dad was moving around the house like usual. There was nothing unusual about his behavior."

"That is exactly what I expected," Katherine said immediately.

"But then something happened," Anna added.

Katherine’s expression tightened.

"The staff said they suddenly heard Mom screaming from upstairs," Anna explained. "That was when everyone rushed toward the bedroom."

"And?"

Anna’s gaze darkened slightly.

"That was when they found Dad unconscious."

Katherine slowly leaned back against the bench.

"Mom said he drank poison," she muttered.

"Yes," Anna replied quietly. "That is what she told everyone."

Katherine remained silent for a moment, thinking carefully.

"You said everything was normal until the afternoon," she said. "So what changed?"

Anna looked straight ahead.

"The staff mentioned one more thing," she said.

Katherine waited.

"They said Dad had a private conversation with Mom before he went upstairs."

Katherine’s brows slowly furrowed.

"A conversation?"

Anna nodded.

"He spoke with her for some time," she said. "After that, he went upstairs alone."

The implication settled heavily between them.

"And then Mom started screaming," Katherine whispered.

Anna nodded once again.

"Yes."

Katherine exhaled slowly, trying to process the sequence of events.

"So you are saying the last person who spoke to Dad before this happened was Mom."

"I am not accusing her," Anna said carefully. "But the timing is too strange to ignore."

Katherine stared at the hospital floor.

For the first time since hearing the news, a disturbing thought crossed her mind.

"If Dad did not do this willingly," she murmured, "then something must have pushed him to it."

Anna’s eyes hardened slightly.

"Or someone."

The two sisters looked at each other in silence for a long moment. The tension between them was not anger but the weight of too many unanswered questions.

Finally, Katherine broke the silence.

"What do you think will happen now, Anna?" she asked quietly.

Her voice carried worry rather than frustration.

"Mom’s reckless move of dragging the Claffords into this is going to bring a lot of attention to both our families," she continued. "Once the media starts digging, they will not stop easily."

Anna remained quiet, listening.

Katherine let out a slow breath.

"Do you think we are ready for the past to resurface?"

The question lingered heavily between them.

Anna’s gaze dropped for a moment as she thought about everything that had happened within just a few hours. Roseline’s public accusation, Hugo’s sudden collapse, the reporters swarming outside the hospital.

None of it felt like a coincidence.

She could not hide the disappointment she felt toward her mother.

Roseline had always been sharp and calculating, someone who rarely made impulsive decisions. Yet today she had dragged a deeply personal matter into the public eye without hesitation.

It was reckless.

And reckless actions usually came with consequences.

What Katherine said was not something Anna could dismiss.

If the Claffords decided to fight back, the matter would not remain confined to a single accusation. Old tensions, buried conflicts, and uncomfortable truths could easily surface.

And Norma Clafford was not the kind of person who ignored an attack on her reputation.

Anna knew that better than anyone.

Norma would never let this go easily.

Especially not when Katherine was now working directly under her authority.

If anything, Katherine would now be under even more scrutiny than before. Every decision she made inside the company would be watched carefully.

The thought made Anna uneasy.

"This is going to complicate things," Anna finally said.

Katherine gave a faint, bitter smile.

"That is one way to put it."

For a moment they both sat quietly again, listening to the distant sounds of hospital staff moving through the hallway.

But something else was troubling Anna.

A thought that refused to leave her mind.

"What if this is not just about the accusation?" she suddenly said.

Katherine turned toward her.

"What do you mean?"

Anna’s eyes narrowed slightly as she pieced together everything she had learned since arriving at the hospital.

"Mom knows exactly what kind of reaction the Claffords would have," she said slowly. "She would know that accusing them publicly would provoke them."

Katherine frowned.

"So why would she do it?"

Anna hesitated before answering.

"That is what I am trying to understand."

Her mind kept returning to the same unsettling possibility.

What if Roseline’s actions were not simply driven by anger or grief?

What if the chaos was intentional?

Anna looked toward the corridor leading to Hugo’s room.

One thought echoed repeatedly in her mind.

What if Roseline had created this entire spectacle to divert their attention from something else?

If that was true, then Hugo’s condition was not the only problem they were facing.

It might only be the beginning.

***

[Clafford Mansion]

After Henry left, Daniel remained in his study for quite some time. The silence of the room allowed him to think without interruption, though his mind was far from calm.

The situation outside was escalating faster than he had expected.

It was only when Mariam knocked on the door that his thoughts were interrupted.

"Sir, your aunt has arrived," she informed him politely.

Daniel acknowledged her with a nod but did not move immediately. He remained seated for another minute, gathering his thoughts before finally standing up.

By the time he walked downstairs, Norma was already seated in the living room.

The moment she saw him approach, her gaze immediately fell on the bandage wrapped around his arm.

Her eyes narrowed.

"What happened to your hand?" she asked.

Daniel paused slightly, realizing she had no idea about the accident.

Norma’s sharp gaze did not stop there. She noticed the faint bruises along his forehead, the slight cut on the bridge of his nose, and the small injury near his lip.

They were fresh.

Clearly not something that had happened days ago.

Daniel let out a quiet chuckle at her observation and sat down on the couch across from her.

"I got into an accident," he said casually.

Norma’s expression did not soften.

If anything, her gaze became even more calculating.

"An accident?" she repeated slowly.

The surprise in her voice was subtle but unmistakable.

For a brief moment, she studied him carefully, trying to measure the truth behind his words.

Then realization struck her.

That explained why he had not shown up at the emergency board meeting earlier that morning.

Norma leaned back slightly against the couch, processing the information.

Still, something about the situation did not sit well with her.

Daniel might have been injured, but that did not mean he was unaware of what was happening outside.

The news had already spread across every major channel.

Roseline Bennett’s accusation had turned their private conflict into a public spectacle.

Norma’s eyes rested on him again, sharp and probing.

"You have seen the news," she said.

It was not a question.

Daniel nodded calmly.

"Yes."

Norma studied his composed expression for a moment before speaking again.

"And what do you think about it?"

Daniel remained silent for a brief second, his gaze steady.

"I think," he said slowly, "that Roseline Bennett is either very desperate."

His eyes darkened slightly.

"Or very confident about something."

Norma did not respond immediately.

But the faint tightening of her jaw revealed that she had reached the same conclusion.

Roseline’s move had been reckless.

And reckless moves were rarely made without a hidden motive.

"You think it’s because you reopened the case?"