Several minutes after jason left, President Donovan collapsed into the leather armchair, his hands rubbing over his weary face. His broad shoulders sagged under the invisible weight pressing him down. He sighed.Isabelle's condition had worsened by the hour, and despite the enormous wealth he had accumulated, despite his influence stretching across continents, he could not find the cure that mattered most.Every renowned specialist had failed. Every modern machine had been exhausted. And still, Isabelle lay pale, her breaths growing shallower as though time itself had chosen to abandon her.The president raised his hand, and one of his trusted men stepped forward immediately.“Escort Samuel Tennyson from the other side of the villa to the hospital,” the president said, his voice hoarse.The man bowed slightly. “Yes, Mr. President.”The command was clear and he moved quickly to carry out the order.The president leaned back again, his chest tightening. This had better work, he thought

The door to Isabelle’s room opened slowly, and Samuel stepped out with his chin raised and a victorious smile tugging at the corners of his lips.He walked slowly as though he wanted every guard and every nurse in sight to witness his moment of glory. Olivia followed right behind him, her face glowing with satisfaction, her eyes darting around with the gleam of a woman already basking in the praise that was yet to come.The president, who had been pacing anxiously back and forth, immediately halted at the sight of Samuel’s confident demeanor. His chest rose and fell rapidly.“Well?” the president demanded, his voice trembling slightly. “Tell me, Samuel. How is she? How is my Isabelle?”Samuel placed a hand over his chest and dipped his head with feigned humility, though his tone carried the smugness he couldn’t quite hide.“Mr. President,” Samuel began, dragging out his words. “your daughter has been healed. Her suffering is at an end.”The president froze, his lips parting in disbeli

Jason was still in the waiting room when he heard the chaos happening in Isabelle's ward. He sat in his wheelchair, his hands resting calmly on the armrests, his eyes closed as though he were asleep. But he was not.Every sound—the hurried footsteps, the raised voices, the cries of anguish—reached him. Behind him, Michael’s man stood, waiting, his eyes occasionally flicking toward the sealed ward doors.Then the muffled cries came through more clearly. Olivia’s shrill protests, Samuel’s desperate shouts insisting on his innocence, and the thundering tones of guards dragging them away.Jason’s eyes flickered open slowly. He breathed out, as if confirming something he already knew. “They’re gone,” Jason murmured, his voice calm. “Olivia and Samuel are gone.”Michael’s man leaned forward slightly. “Shall I check to be certain, sir?”Jason shook his head. “No need. The noise tells me everything. They’ve been exposed. The president is drowning in grief and rage. And Isabelle…” His words tr

Doctors, nurses, and guards stood rooted to the spot, their mouths hanging open as though their very voices had been stolen. Not one of them moved, not one dared to breathe too loudly, because before their very eyes, the impossible had just unfolded.Isabelle Donovan—who had moments earlier been coughing blood, writhing in agony, and tethered to the machines that counted down her fading life—now stood upright. Upright on legs that had been lifeless for so long.Her pale cheeks were flushed with new color, her trembling lips stretched into a disbelieving smile, and tears streamed down her face as she looked at her own hands, then down at her moving feet again.“I… I can walk,” she whispered again, almost as if saying it aloud would make it vanish like a dream. Her voice was trembling, filled with awe and shock in equal measure. “Father… I can walk!”The clipboard a nurse had dropped earlier clattered as it was nudged by her shaking foot, and the sharp sound jolted everyone from their t

“You,” Samuel spat, his voice echoing across the compound. “Of course it’s you. The cripple. The useless beggar who never knows when to quit. What in the world do you think you are doing here?”Olivia, who had been sobbing moments earlier, caught sight of Jason too. Her tears dried instantly as her face transformed into one of pure loathing.Her eyes narrowed, and her voice rose shrill with hatred.“Jason Woods,” she said, her words were loud. “So this is what it’s come to? You trailing after us like a desperate dog, following us even into the president’s villa. Have you no shame? Do you really think this place is meant for people like you?”The police officers stiffened slightly but said nothing.Jason sat calmly, his eyes darting from Samuel to Olivia, his hands folded lightly over his lap. He neither responded nor shifted at first, and his very silence seemed to fuel their anger.“I did not trail you here,” Jason finally said.Samuel yanked against the cuffs, ignoring Jason's words