Chapter 2 - The Flatline
I turned back to Margaret. The fierce, angry mother who had slapped the evidence into my chest was now staring through the small glass window of the surgical double doors, her hands pressed against her mouth, weeping silently.
“Margaret,” I said, my voice cracking for the first time in a decade.
She didn't look at me. “Sofia found the discrepancies in her medical portal two weeks ago. She hired a forensic auditor. She was going to hand the entire file to the FBI to have the clinic shut down, but the stress... her heart couldn't take the stress, Adrian.”
Before I could respond, the surgical doors flew open.
The doctor who had spoken to me earlier rushed out, his scrubs soaked in blood. The chaotic, terrifying symphony of screaming medical monitors echoed from the operating room behind him.
“We delivered the baby,” the doctor breathed, his eyes wide with adrenaline. “It’s a boy. He’s in the NICU. He’s small, but he’s breathing.”
A son.
I had a son.
The joy lasted for exactly a fraction of a second before the doctor’s expression shattered it.
“But Sofia is in acute cardiac failure,” he continued, his voice grim. “The cardiomyopathy triggered a massive hemorrhage. Her heart is failing to pump. We are initiating a bypass, but her pressure is bottoming out.”
“Save her,” I demanded, grabbing the lapels of his bloodstained scrubs, the polished mafia boss entirely stripped away, leaving only a desperate, terrified man. “I will buy this entire hospital. I will fund your department for the next twenty years. You do not let her die.”
“We are doing everything we can, Mr. Moretti,” the doctor said gently, prying my hands away. “But you need to prepare yourself.”
He disappeared back through the doors.
I collapsed into the plastic waiting room chair. I buried my face in my hands. I had built an empire of blood, intimidation, and absolute control. I could move millions of dollars with a single phone call. I could destroy a rival syndicate before breakfast. But sitting in that sterile hallway, listening to the muffled, frantic shouts of the surgical team desperately trying to save the woman I had broken, I was entirely, completely powerless.
I had looked at Sofia’s grief and called it weakness. I had let another woman manipulate my pride until I threw away the only person who had ever loved me without fearing me.
May you like
I closed my eyes and prayed to a God I had long since abandoned.
Let her live. Just let her live, and I will spend the rest of my life paying for what I did.
