Chapter 16
Life in Havenwood was a fragile peace.
Then, one evening, Lily’ s temperature spiked.
A high, dangerous fever.
She was struggling to breathe.
Sarah rushed her to the small local clinic.
The doctor, a kind, elderly man named Dr. Peterson, examined Lily, his
face growing increasingly grave.
“Sarah,” he said gently, “Lily is very sick. Her leukemia … it’s fighting
back hard. This clinic, we’re not equipped to handle this. She needs
immediate specialist care. In a major city hospital. Or … “
He didn’t finish the sentence.
He didn’t need to.
Or she’ll die.
The words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating.
The cost.
The astronomical cost of that kind of care.
Sarah’ s carefully constructed world crumbled.
The anonymous money was nearly gone, depleted by months of
medication and consultations.
She was out of options.
Her hands shaking, her heart pounding with a desperate, terrifying
rhythm, she pulled out her phone.
There was only one person who could help.
One person with the resources, the connections.
One person she had sworn she would never contact again.
Her fingers trembled as she dialed the number.
It rang once. Twice.
He answered.
“Hayes.” His voice, deep, familiar.
“Ethan … ” Her voice was a choked whisper. “It’s Sarah.”
Silence on the other end.
Then, “Sarah? What is it? Are you okay?”
His voice, sharper now, laced with a sudden concern.
“It’s Lily,” she sobbed, the carefully constructed walls of her composure
shattering. “She’s … she’s dying, Ethan. The doctor said … Oh God, Ethan,
please … I need your help. Please.”
Ethan was at the hospital, visiting Olivia pre-transplant.
He had been enduring her usual manipulative theatrics, her demands
for attention, her accusations of his coldness.
He had been trying to be civil, responsible.
But when he heard Sarah’ s voice, her raw, desperate plea …
Everything else faded.
Olivia. Her transplant. His company.
None of it mattered.
Only Sarah. Only Lily.
“Where are you?” he demanded, his voice urgent, already moving. “Tell
me where you are. I’m coming.”
He barked orders into his phone, arranging for a medevac helicopter.
The best. The fastest.
He turned to Olivia, who was watching him with narrowed, suspicious
eyes.
“Your transplant is proceeding, Olivia,” he said, his voice clipped. “The
doctors will take care of everything. I have an emergency. A life-or-
death emergency.”
Olivia saw the panic in his eyes.
A panic that wasn’t for her.
“Is it her?” she hissed. “Is it that tramp, Sarah?”
Ethan was already gone.
He didn’t hear her screams of rage, her threats, her accusations.
He was already on his way.
To Sarah.
To Lily.
His daughter.