Chapter 4

After Lucy was rushed into the resuscitation room, the doctor came out with the news I'd been dreading.

"She's developed a severe arrhythmia. We need to operate immediately."

My hand shook so badly I could barely sign the emergency consent form.

"Where's her father?" the nurse asked.

I stared at the crooked J I'd managed to scrawl at the beginning of Jenna.

"Dead."

Ten minutes later, another doctor came looking for me. The surgeon who was supposed to operate on Lucy had been reassigned at the last minute, and the hospital had received a request from a family member to postpone the surgery and transfer her to a private hospital.

"I didn't request a transfer."

The doctor pulled up the authorization.

Yves Zeller's electronic signature was right there at the bottom.

It took nine calls before he finally answered. Wherever he was, people were applauding in the background.

"Why did you stop Lucy's surgery?"

"Yvette contacted a medical team abroad. They have a higher success rate."

"She can't even be transferred in her condition!"

"You can't take everything the doctors here say at face value. Yvette wouldn't do anything to hurt Lucy."

Yvette's voice floated through the phone. "Jenna, I've already sent her records to the specialists. They said she's too young for surgery. She needs to wait at least three months."

The doctor beside me heard her and held out his hand for the phone.

"Who told you this child can wait three months? She's at risk of heart failure at any moment. If we don't operate tonight, she may not survive."

Yves was quiet for a moment.

"Then get another surgeon."

"This is a highly complex procedure. We can't just put anyone in the OR. The surgeon assigned to her has already been called away, and the earliest we can get him back is six hours from now."

The call ended.

I spent the next several hours outside the resuscitation room. Yves didn't arrive until five that afternoon, with Yvette following behind him carrying a bouquet.

She came straight toward me, her face arranged into an apologetic expression. "Jenna, I'm sorry. I was only trying to help Lucy. I didn't realize the doctors here would be so conservative."

I shoved her away. The flowers hit the floor.

Yves immediately stepped between us. "Are you seriously going to hit her again?"

"Withdraw the request."

"I already did." He bent down, gathered the bouquet, and handed it back to Yvette. "The doctors are working on it. Stop blaming her for everything."

"Was she the one who told you to stop the surgery?"

"I'm the one who signed the authorization. If you want to blame someone, blame me."

I looked at him.

Of all the things he could have said, that was almost funny.

The resuscitation room doors opened before I could answer. A doctor emerged, pulling off his mask.

"We've managed to stabilize her heartbeat for now, but she's still in critical condition. You need to be prepared."

They finally let me in to see Lucy. She lay beneath a tangle of tubes and wires, struggling just to open her eyes.

"Mommy, I dreamed Daddy came to get me."

Fighting back tears, I told her, "He's here. He's right outside."

Lucy's eyes brightened at that. When I glanced back, Yves was still standing in the doorway without coming in.

Then Yvette suddenly clutched her chest and sank down against the wall. "Yves, I can't breathe."

He immediately went to help her up. After a moment's hesitation, he turned to me. "I'm taking Yvette to the ER. I'll be right back."

I moved into the doorway before he could leave. "Lucy almost died."

"Yvette isn't feeling well either."

I had enough. I grabbed him by the collar. "She's your daughter!"

Yves pried my fingers loose one by one and pushed me back into the room. "That's exactly why I trust you to take care of her. Yvette only has me."

Then he left, closing the door behind him. Lucy's hand slowly dropped back to the mattress.

"Did Daddy leave?"

I turned away to wipe my eyes before she could see. "He went to get you a present."

"Okay. I'll wait for him."

She closed her eyes again, still holding on to that tiny bit of hope.

By eight that evening, the operating room was finally ready.

As the nurse wheeled Lucy down the hall, she kept watching the far end of the corridor.

No one came.

Just before they took her through the OR doors, she whispered, "Mommy, did Aunt Yvette buy Daddy again?"

I bent down and kissed her forehead.

"No."

I held her gaze.

"This time, we're the ones walking away from him."

The doors slowly closed behind her.

At that exact moment, my phone buzzed with two notifications from the bidding app.

[Administrator Yves Zeller has changed family member permissions.]

[Yvette Xavier has been designated the permanent priority companion.]

I stared at the messages, took a screenshot, and called Diana Zeller.

"Mom, you once told me that if I was willing to return the shares Yves's father left me to the Zeller family, we could negotiate any terms I wanted."

Diana was silent for a moment.

"What do you want?"

I looked at the closed operating-room doors.

When I answered, my voice was calm.

"I want Yves to walk away from this marriage with nothing."