Marcus nodded slowly, the gravity of the situation settling heavily onto his shoulders. He knew that if Natalie caught them, her connections and wealth could make his life a living hell. But looking at Richard, and thinking of his sister’s labored breathing every night at home, he knew he had no choice.
“I’ll do it,” Marcus said quietly, his voice steady. “I’ll get the sample secured.”
By dawn, the storm had cleared, leaving Boston under a blanket of crisp, gray autumn light. True to his word, Richard spent the early morning hours drafting the precise legal instructions with a trusted notary whom Marcus managed to escort into the room under the guise of a routine chaplain visit. By the time the hospital corridors began to buzz with morning rounds, the first legal trap had been set.
Natalie arrived at ten o’clock sharp, wearing a designer trench coat and carrying her usual faux-sympathetic expression. She swept into the room, leaning down to press a cold, calculated kiss to Richard’s cheek.
“Good morning, darling,” she murmured, her eyes darting toward the nightstand where the empty specimen container now sat safely hidden in the locked drawer below. “How are we feeling today?”
Richard opened his eyes, offering her a faint, knowing smile that made her pause mid-sentence.
“Never better, my love,” Richard rasped softly. “Never better.”
Natalie frowned momentarily, unsettled by the strange glint in his eyes, before brushing it off as the residual effects of medication. She had no idea that the documents sitting on Julian Vance’s desk downtown had already transformed her inheritance into a ticking time bomb, and that every polite smile she offered was now being cataloged by the very man she thought she had completely outsmarted.
