Chapter 2

After that, I picked up the call, and a familiar yet distant voice came through the phone. “Are you the one in charge of the artificial hearts? My name is Irina Cress, and I believe you have heard of me.”

“Yes, I was the person in charge.”

“What do you want? Money? Power? Fame? Do you want 1.5 billion dollars? Or 2 billion dollars? I can donate the money as a good deed in my husband’s name. He was seriously ill right now. I know your hospital director, and if you take this job, I can make you deputy director. You might want to consider this.”

I remained silent, and she continued to add incentives. “Besides all these, I can offer you lucrative shares…”

I smiled and stopped her. “I do not want any of these, Madam Cress.”

There were several seconds of silence. “What do you want? Name me a price.”

I laughed. “It was not about money. It was this person. I could not operate on this man.”

Irina laughed in anger. “You could not operate on him? I heard that no one but you could conduct the artificial heart surgery, and you were telling me that you could not operate on him? Were you playing games with me?”

She seemed to realize she was asking for help, and her tone softened. “How about this offer? If you save my husband, I will give you 5% of Cress Industries’ shares. That amount of money will last you an entire lifetime and more.”

I repeated myself. “It was not about the money, Madam Cress.”

“If this was not about the money, what was it about?” Irina almost yelled. “You were a doctor, and you were responsible for saving lives. If you do not save him, it will be equivalent to murder.”

She took a moment to catch her breath before continuing. “My assistant mentioned you to me. I heard that you poured a lot of hard work into this research, but you lacked the funds. You signed a VAM agreement to get the money, and you were not done paying back what you owed.

“You even implanted the materials into your own body for the research, and you almost died from anaphylactic shock.

“I believe that agreement ends this year, and you must be aware that Cress Industries was one of the top companies in the world. No one would invest in your research if I put out the word. You should know that if I pull out funding, you will face financial restraints very soon.

“If that happens, it will be the end of you and your research.”

“Is that so?” I laughed. “I do not think Madam Cress should worry about me. If it was the end of me, it would mean the end of the person you want to save too. Feel free to do whatever you want, Irina Cress.”

Irina went silent. All I heard was her angry breathing. “What do you want? What should I do to convince you to save my husband?”

“I told you that I would not save him.”

A thought seemed to cross Irina’s mind. “Who are you? Do we know each other? Have I ever offended you before?”

She confirmed her guess when I did not reply. “I do not care who you are, but you will save him. Prep your surgery room in 3 hours, or you will pay a heavy price for this.”

“Do your worst.” I hung up, and everything I left unsaid was replaced by the sound of the call ending.

I was not afraid of Irina trying to uncover my identity because it was classified, and I was protected by the country. She would not be able to find any information about me. I clicked on a classified file on my computer.

It contained everything I compiled over the past 10 years to piece together the truth. Irina believed she destroyed all the evidence, but the file could destroy Cress Industries and drag Irina and Steve into ruin. If I sent it out, their reputations would collapse.

I muttered to myself as I stared at the torn picture in front of me. “I know, Dad. Your heart must be tired of beating inside Steve Chapman, but please wait a little longer. I need to continue with this act.

“The higher they are, the harder they fall, and I want Irina Cress to feel the same pain I did to get what she deserves.”