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The shadow
publish date:
2026-07-23 00:17:41THREE
Emily The quiet of the garden did little to cool the rage humming under my skin. I stood near the brick wall, inspecting my grazed palm, taking slow, deliberate breaths. “Graceful as always.” I didn’t need to turn around to know that voice. Seth stepped into the courtyard garden, hands tucked casually into the pockets of his dark trousers. “Did you follow me out here just to gloat, Dr. Hernandez?” I asked, turning to face him. “I don’t gloat,” he said smoothly, stopping a few feet away. “I observe. You took a hard fall.” “I’ve handled worse.” “Clearly,” he murmured, his eyes dropping to my palm. Before I could pull back, he reached out, his fingers cool and firm as he gently took my hand, inspecting the superficial scrape. “You’re bleeding.” The sudden physical contact sent a jolt straight up my arm. I pulled my hand back sharply. “I’m a doctor, Seth. I know how to handle a scrape.” “Then act like one instead of running off,” he said, his tone shifting from playful to surprisingly grounded. Before I could retort, my phone began ringing frantically in my pocket. I pulled it out. Xena. “Excuse me,” I said, stepping past him to answer. “Xena, what’s happening?” “Ma’am, you need to return to New York immediately,” Xena’s voice was laced with an urgency I hadn’t heard in years. “The board has called an emergency session. They’re demanding your presence by tomorrow morning.” I frowned, my professional instincts instantly overriding my annoyance with Seth. “The board? Did something happen with our quarterly audit?” “They won’t give details over the phone,” Xena replied nervously. “Only that it involves top-tier legal representatives and an external party.” “I’ll take the first flight out tonight,” I said firmly. I hung up and turned back to Seth. He was watching me intently, his sharp eyes weighing every shift in my expression. “Duty calls?” he asked softly. “Always,” I said, adjusting my jacket. “Enjoy your outreach, Dr. Hernandez. Try not to run my town into the ground while I’m gone.” “Safe travels, Emily,” he said, his eyes holding mine just a second too long. “I have a feeling we’ll be seeing each other sooner than you think.” I ignored the strange chill his words gave me, turned around, and left. By 8:00 AM the following morning, I walked through the sliding glass doors of Gifted Hands Hospital in New York. The familiar smell of antiseptic and the hum of monitors usually grounded me, but today, the air felt heavy. Xena met me at the executive elevator. “They’re already inside the main boardroom, ma’am.” “Who else is in there?” I asked, stepping into the elevator. Xena swallowed hard. “Not just our board members, Emily. Legal counsel from the Hernandez Group is here.” My stomach dropped. The Hernandez Group? I didn't wait to process it. The elevator doors opened, and I pushed through the double doors of the boardroom. The entire table was filled. My hospital directors sat on one side, looking visibly uncomfortable. On the other side sat high-powered corporate attorneys—and at the head of the table sat Richard Hernandez. Seth’s father. “Emily,” Richard said, standing up with an authoritative smile. “Thank you for joining us on such short notice.” “What is going on here?” I asked, remaining standing at the foot of the table, establishing my authority immediately. “Why is the board meeting with external counsel without my prior written authorization?” My lead director cleared his throat nervously. “Emily, please sit. This concerns an agreement predating your tenure as President.” “What agreement?” I demanded, locking eyes with Richard Hernandez. Richard placed a leather-bound folder on the table and pushed it toward me. “Years ago, before his passing, your father entered into a legally binding covenant with the Hernandez Group,” Richard explained calmly. “It dictates that upon the five-year mark of his death, Gifted Hands Hospital and Healing Grace Health Systems will initiate a complete corporate merger.” The room went dead silent. “A merger?” I let out a sharp, incredulous laugh. “Gifted Hands is a private legacy institution. My father would never surrender our operational independence.” “He didn't surrender it, Dr. DelaRosa,” Richard replied steadily. “He consolidated it. The contract is executed. The merger process has already begun.”
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The Billionaire Doctor's Unwilling Wife Someone is watching
chapter hundred-twelveEmilyI read the message again before stepping out of the elevator.You're looking in the wrong place, Emily. The person who signed that note isn't the person you need to fear.The words were simple, but they left me with an uncomfortable feeling that settled beneath my ribs.Whoever had sent the message knew about the handwritten authorization. That meant either someone involved in our investigation was talking, or the sender had access to information that should have remained within a small circle.Neither possibility was reassuring.I forwarded the message to Daniel and the hospital's security team, then put my phone away.I wasn't going to let an anonymous stranger dictate where I looked.Seth was waiting in the living room when I arrived at the penthouse. He sat on the sofa with a blanket across his legs, looking thoroughly annoyed with the restrictions his doctor had placed on his recovery.His eyes lifted when I entered."You're late."I glanced at the cl
The Billionaire Doctor's Unwilling Wife The handwriting
chapter hundred-elevenEmilyThe note arrived in my office twenty minutes later.I had expected a photocopy, perhaps another incomplete document that would give us more questions than answers. Instead, Daniel walked in carrying a sealed evidence envelope, his expression unusually serious.“The original,” he said, placing it on my desk. “The coordination supervisor signed the transfer record. Security has also made a digital copy.”I looked at the envelope.“Did anyone else see it?”“Only the supervisor and the records officer before it was sealed. I've asked them to document every person who handles it from now on.”“Good.”He opened the envelope carefully and slid the paper onto the desk.It was a small sheet, yellowed slightly at the edges, with a handwritten instruction beneath the reference number we had already identified.Proceed with temporary access. Inspection to be handled separately from routine maintenance.Below it was a signature.The writing was hurried, the letters pre
The Billionaire Doctor's Unwilling Wife The office approved it
chapter hundred-tenEmilyBy eight the next morning, I was already in my office, staring at the documents Daniel had left on my desk.For days, we had been chasing fragments. A visitor pass with a questionable name. A camera inspection nobody could account for. An escort authorization with no escort identified. Now, the records showed that someone had bypassed the normal maintenance procedure and used the executive administration channel to make it happen.The question was no longer whether something unusual had occurred.It was who had made it possible.My phone rang.“Tell me you have something useful,” I said when Daniel answered.“I do. But I think you'll want to see it yourself.”“Daniel, I'm not in the mood for suspense.”“Then come to the administrative records room. I've found the original routing sheet.”I grabbed my notebook and left.Daniel was waiting beside a computer, three folders spread across the table. He looked as though he had barely slept.“You look terrible,” I t
The Billionaire Doctor's Unwilling Wife What the records revealed
chapter hundred-nineEmilyThe first thing Daniel said when he entered my office the following morning was, “We found a discrepancy.”I looked up from my laptop.“Good morning to you too. What discrepancy?”He placed a folder on my desk and pulled out two printed reports.“The original access log and the administrative summary don't match. The original system recorded the credential's exit at 8:03 p.m. The summary says 7:56 p.m.”I compared the timestamps.“Seven minutes.”“Yes. And the summary was generated the following morning.”I looked at him sharply.“Can we tell who generated it?”“The system records the account used to produce the summary, but the account belongs to the security office. Several employees could access it.”I sighed.“Of course they could.”Daniel ignored my sarcasm and continued.“The technical team checked the amendment history. The original access event wasn't deleted. The later summary simply contains a different exit time.”“Was the summary manually correct
The Billionaire Doctor's Unwilling Wife Missing link
chapter hundred-eightEmilyI couldn't stop thinking about the security records.Every time I believed we were close to an answer, another gap appeared. The visitor pass had been issued under the name M. Hale, the camera inspection had been arranged through an external contact, and someone had entered the restricted administrative corridor twice without leaving a complete record.Now we had evidence that the second entry involved a departmental credential, but we still couldn't establish who had used it.I sat at my desk, reviewing the documents Daniel had gathered, when my phone rang.“Emily, are you still at the hospital?” Seth asked.“Yes. I'm trying to understand why our security system has more holes than a fishing net.”He chuckled. “That bad?”“Worse. At least a fishing net has a purpose.”“Have you eaten?”I glanced at the clock.“Why does everyone keep asking me that?”“Because you forget.”“I do not.”“Emily.”“Fine. I'll eat something.”“Thank you, sweetheart.”I paused at
The Billionaire Doctor's Unwilling Wife The second entry
chapter hundred-seven EmilyThe second access record arrived at my office before ten the following morning.I had barely finished reading the first page when Daniel walked in, carrying a folder thick enough to make me suspicious.“Please tell me this contains something useful,” I said.“It does. Whether you'll like it is another matter.”I put down my pen. “Daniel, I haven't had enough coffee for riddles.”He placed the folder in front of me.“The security team has confirmed that the administrative corridor was accessed again four days after the camera inspection. This time, the camera was operational.”I immediately opened the folder.“Who entered?”“The system recorded an employee credential, but the access report doesn't include the person's name. We're trying to retrieve the original credential assignment from the archived records.”“Why is every record in this hospital missing the one thing we need?”“I'm beginning to wonder the same thing.”I examined the report.Unlike the ear
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