Chapter 4

The following afternoon, a process server carrying neutral-zone credentials entered the secure area.

The attached waiver demanded that I permanently surrender my rights to port access, medical care, security, and residence, then remain at the estate indefinitely to decrypt the ledger.

"Is this what Lucas wants?"

Sophia appeared on the video feed. "This is the price of the truce."

"I want to see my father."

"That's not on the agenda."

"Then I won't sign."

Sophia stared at me.

"The longer you drag this out, the more likely your father's medical care is to suffer."

"What you want isn't a truce. It's to strip me of every protection I have."

She cut the feed.

Dr. Elena Brooks was the one assigned to review the medical records that night.

My father had funded her training years ago, and she still retained audit access through the clinic's legacy system.

She pulled the diagnostics from the incident snapshot.

My father had suffered acute myocardial ischemia. His medication had been delayed by nine minutes.

The protection order Lucas had signed forced every medication approval through the full chain of command, yet it provided no independent review.

During the chain-of-command transition, Sophia's people had changed the status from "pending confirmation" to "delivered."

Lucas hadn't ordered the nine-minute delay.

But the gap was one he had left, and both Adrian and Roman had warned him about it.

Before the signing ceremony, Lucas came in carrying a different document.

"The actual restrictions last only thirty days and don't affect medical care, communication, or travel. No one can force you to decrypt the ledger, either."

I laid both documents side by side.

"Then what was this one I received?"

He opened the forged document, and his expression hardened.

Adrian retrieved the original attachment preserved by the council.

The real terms required only that I temporarily withdraw from political activity conducted under my cover identity as a Visconti witness.

Adrian called for the truce to be suspended pending investigations into document tampering and the medical incident.

Lucas agreed only to void the forged document.

I handed him my father's diagnostic report.

He ordered the safe house supervisor detained, then turned to me. "The doctors have stabilized him."

"After the signing, I'll let you see him."

"Will you publicly acknowledge me as your wife?"

"If we go public now, the hawks will end the truce."

"So you still choose the truce."

Lucas didn't answer.

"It's not that you don't understand.

"You just assume I'll keep waiting."

In the council chamber, the real attachment was placed before me again.

It didn't imprison me, but it still required me to suspend the witness identity I had been using to conceal the marriage.

Milder terms did not make them respectful.

Lucas knew that, and he still hadn't asked for the attachment to be withdrawn.

Sophia was waiting for me to sign, and he didn't stop her.

I put pen to paper, but what I wrote was a string of port transaction numbers.

"I request an emergency council review of this account."

The clerk verified the numbers and stood up immediately.

"The money came through a pharmaceutical shipping route controlled by the Vitali hawks."

Sophia lunged for the document but was restrained by the guards.

"This doesn't prove I'm guilty!"

"No. But it's enough to freeze the account and open an investigation."

The hawk representatives were suspended from voting. Enzo agreed on the spot to separate the attachment from the main agreement.

I hadn't signed. The restrictions didn't take effect. The main truce agreement moved forward.

Elena brought me the emergency medical transfer permit.

"The medication delay has triggered a neutral medical review. The safe house has to release him."

I left through the side door and climbed into the medical transport.

The safe house gate was still stuck on "pending confirmation."

A technician connected to the local port. Using the maintenance parameters my father had left behind, I generated a one-time response that opened only the medical evacuation corridor.

My father sat weakly in the room.

"Evelyn, how did you get here?"

I helped him up.

"I'm taking you out."

Once the medical transport entered the neutral zone, I erased my estate credentials and requested permanent revocation of my personal access.

By the time Lucas arrived, the room was empty.

All that remained on the table were the tampered medication records and a copy of the family contract.

This time, I didn't wait for him.