The silence that followed the screen going black was heavier and more damning than any accusation. The air, once electric with triumph, was now thick with the acrid smell of panic and fraud. Security personnel were moving discreetly but purposefully toward the stage. The FDA officials, no longer whispering, stood up, their faces like stone.
Liam’s chest heaved, his breaths coming in ragged, shallow gasps. His gaze, locked on mine, was a maelstrom of terror, disbelief, and a dawning, venomous hatred. The man who had stood there minutes before, a titan of medicine, was gone. In his place was a cornered animal, ready to bite.
And bite he did.
Just as an FDA official reached the stage steps, Liam lunged for the microphone, his knuckles white as he gripped the stand.
“Wait!” he screamed, hi
