Chapter 4

I typed out a single word.

[No.]

Then, I blocked him.

At 8:00 AM, the Director of Metro General, Dr. Harrison, called me personally. His tone over the receiver was deferential to the point of groveling.

"Miss Vance, what happened last night was a colossal failure in our management. We will handle this with the utmost severity."

"Do you think... the Lumina Foundation signing ceremony could still proceed as scheduled?"

I glanced at my mother, who was resting peacefully in bed, and kept my voice perfectly flat.

"No."

Dr. Harrison went silent for several seconds.

"Miss Vance, this project has been six months in the making. The state press has already been notified. If we pull the plug now, the fallout will be catastrophic..."

"Dr. Harrison," I cut him off smoothly.

"Is the fallout more important than a patient’s life?"

The line went completely dead on his end.

I continued, "My mother was forced out of her paid recovery suite on her first post-op night and had to be transferred under emergency conditions. To this moment, your hospital has failed to provide a single written explanation. Who authorized the illegal takeover of Suite 1208? Who executed it? Who takes responsibility? Until every single one of those questions is answered in writing, Lumina Health Foundation will not disburse a single cent to Metro General."

Dr. Harrison panicked. "Miss Vance, please, give us a little more time!"

"I can give you time, but under three conditions."

"First, preserve every second of surveillance footage and audit every electronic medical record modification."

"Second, immediately suspend Ethan Brooks, Brenda Harris, and all involved staff pending a formal investigation."

"Third, the King family must issue a full, public apology to my mother."

Dr. Harrison sounded choked. "Miss Vance, the first two can be arranged immediately, but regarding Mrs. King... that might be difficult."

"Isn't she an official's VIP relative? Then have her precious commissioner cousin come explain it to me himself."

After a long pause, Dr. Harrison murmured helplessly, "Miss Vance, there might be a misunderstanding here..."

Right after I hung up, Attorney Davis sent over a video clip.

It was a screen recording of Brittany Cole's livestream from the previous night. She was aiming her phone at my mother and me, her tone dripping with venom.

"Some people are just so melodramatic! It's just an old lady—she can sleep anywhere, can't she?"

"My aunt needs a quiet space for her private anti-aging rejuvenation treatment tomorrow, of course she needs privacy!"

I froze on that sentence.

*Private anti-aging rejuvenation treatment.*

That wasn't surgery. That was an unlicensed, black-market cosmetic procedure!

I forwarded the video to Attorney Davis immediately.

"Pull Donna King's admission records and surgical schedule."

Ten minutes later, Davis replied.

"No official surgical booking exists."

"Her admission chart lists 'abdominal pain under observation,' but there are zero diagnostic orders."

"However, an out-of-pocket injectable compound was brought into the facility. The prescribing doctor listed is an external aesthetic practitioner Ethan Brooks works with—named Brittany Cole."

Brittany Cole.

Donna King's niece.

Staring at the screen, a wave of nausea washed over me.

They hadn't just stolen my mother's room for comfort. They stole it to dodge standard clinical oversight.

The executive suites offered near-absolute privacy, minimal foot traffic, and zero interior cameras.

They were using an executive hospital suite to perform illicit, unauthorized cosmetic injections.

They stole a room my mother needed to survive, all so a corrupt "official's relative" could conduct shady black-market vanity procedures.

Before I could dig any further, the door to the room opened.

My assistant, Chloe, walked in, her face grave.

"Miss Vance, Metro General is in chaos."