Chapter 4

"Nora Vance?"

When the door opened again, it wasn't Lily.

Two men wearing uniforms from the Serenity Psychiatric Center stepped into the room.

"Based on the application submitted by your family and your primary physician's evaluation, you are currently suffering from severe paranoid delusions and tendencies of aggression. We need to transfer you to our facility for a mandatory three-month psychiatric evaluation."

"Who signed the application?" I demanded.

"Your spouse, Mr. Julian Sterling. And the certifying physician is Dr. Ryan Hayes."

I took a step back until my back hit the cold wall.

"I am not mentally ill."

"That is for our specialists to decide. Please cooperate."

He pulled a pair of soft medical restraints from his bag—the kind used for hostile psychiatric patients.

"A mandatory psychiatric hold requires the signatures of two independent psychiatrists. Do you have them?"

The officer flipped open his clipboard.

"First signature: Dr. Ryan Hayes. Second signature: Dr. Arthur Jenkins."

Arthur Jenkins. Ryan Hayes's doctoral mentor. Just last week, he had shared Ryan’s research paper on his social media with the caption: *My proudest student has surpassed the master.*

A master and disciple alliance. Perfectly seamless.

"Let’s go, Miss Vance. The transport vehicle is waiting downstairs."

I scanned the windowless isolation room. No phone, no witnesses, no cameras.

Ryan had arranged this room from the very beginning. He had been planning this all along.

First, lock me up using a forged HIV report to cut off my contact with the outside world, and then ship me off to an asylum under the guise of a psychiatric hold.

By the time I got out of that psychiatric center—if I ever did—my marriage would be gone, my reputation ruined, and my identity erased. Eleanor's dirty secret would remain safely buried in the VIP wing forever.

The officer stepped forward, opening the restraints.

"Don't touch me. I want to see the Hospital Director."

"The Director is out of town on business."

"Then the Deputy Director!"

"He is off-duty today."

"Is there not a single person in charge of this damn hospital?!"

"Miss Vance, your resistance will only be documented as further proof of your unstable state—"

"That's enough."

The heavy door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

Everyone spun around.

A distinguished-looking man in his late fifties stood at the door. He wore a sharp gray suit, had salt-and-pepper hair, and his ID badge read: *Hospital Director.*

The Director who was supposed to be "out of town."

Behind him stood three officers in police uniforms.

The Director’s face looked as sour as if he had just swallowed a whole lemon.

He looked at the scratches on my face, the bleeding gauze on my waist, and the dried blood on my hospital gown. He took a deep, heavy breath.

"You two, leave," he commanded the psychiatric transport staff.

The two men hesitated.

"I said, get out."

His voice wasn't loud, but the authority was absolute. The orderlies immediately packed up their restraints and scurried out.

The Director walked over to me and lowered his voice.

"Miss Vance, at 3:00 AM today, our compliance team conducted a routine audit of our insurance billing records."

"Do you know what we found?"

I shook my head.

"For the past three years and four months, someone has been using your identity and health insurance card to consistently purchase a prescription drug called Tenofovir from our VIP pharmacy."

"The total billed amount is $476,800."

"All thirty-nine prescriptions were written by Dr. Ryan Hayes."

"And Tenofovir... is a primary antiretroviral medication used to treat HIV."

He paused, letting the words sink in.

"Miss Vance, you have never checked into our infectious disease department, nor have you ever received any HIV treatment here. Yet, your insurance record shows three and a half years of heavy HIV medication history."

"In other words—someone stole your identity to treat their own HIV in this hospital for over three years."

Suddenly, the sharp clacking of high heels echoed down the hallway.

Eleanor's voice pierced through the corridor, shrill and frantic.

"Who authorized this audit?! My son's company sponsors this hospital! What right do you have—"

The Director turned around and gestured to the police officers behind him.

"Mrs. Eleanor Sterling, identity theft and healthcare fraud are federal offenses. I don't think your son’s company has jurisdiction over that."