Chapter 2 - The Dying Heirs
The heavy oak doors of Julian’s study clicked shut, sealing them in a room that smelled of aged scotch and leather. Julian didn't sit behind his massive desk. He poured a glass of whiskey and handed it to Clara, who refused it with a shake of her head.
“My security team ran your background when you applied,” Julian stated, leaning against the mahogany wood. “Clara Hayes. Widowed a year ago. Drowning in medical debt. Yet, you bribed the agency scheduler with two months of your wages just to get assigned to my personal quarters. Why?”
Clara took a deep breath. She had nothing left to lose. “Because of Dr. Aris Thorne. He is your private physician. He is also the only man who knows where my daughter is.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed. The mention of Dr. Thorne shifted the atmosphere from tense to deadly. “Dr. Thorne treats my sons. No one else.”
“Your sons are dying,” Clara said bluntly, ignoring the lethal flash in Julian’s eyes. “Everyone in the city whispers about it. A rare genetic blood failure. You’ve been scouring the black market for a bone marrow match.”
Julian closed the distance between them, his towering frame casting a dark shadow over her. “If you breathe a word of my sons' condition to the street, I will erase you.”
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“I don't care about the street!” Clara shouted back, tears of sheer desperation finally breaking through. “A year ago, my late husband sold my four-year-old daughter, Lily, to a black-market broker to pay off his gambling debts. I have hunted that broker for twelve months. Last week, I found a digital ledger. The broker sold a child’s medical profile to Dr. Thorne. Her DNA is a perfect match for your twins.”
Julian froze. The missing puzzle piece that had eluded his vast empire was standing right in front of him.
