Immediately, Penelope could not hold herself back anymore.“This is not fair,” she said, her voice rising with emotion. “This is not right.”She stepped forward, placing herself more firmly between Liam and her brother, as though physically defending the very possibility of hope.“My friend here Liam—deserves a chance,” she said. “I have seen what he can do. I have heard what he can do. I know what he is capable of doing.”Her face was tense now, her eyes bright with desperation, but there was no hesitation in her words.“He literally just saved the governor’s mother’s life earlier,” she said. “I saw it with my own eyes. So why are you acting as if this is impossible? Why are you behaving as though he cannot help?”But the moment those words left her mouth, her brother reacted with explosive force.“Can’t you just be sensible for once?” he shouted.His voice struck the corridor so loudly that even the nurses farther down the hall turned to look.“Leave the governor’s mother out of thi

At that moment, after hearing what Penelope’s brother had said, Penelope’s mother also turned fully toward Liam.Until then, she had been holding onto hope by instinct, by desperation, by the simple fact that a drowning person will reach for anything that resembles a hand. But now that the questions had been asked aloud questions about training, background, qualification, and origin—she found herself looking at Liam with a different kind of scrutiny.Not hostility, not exactly distrust.But caution.She wanted to know. She needed to know. If this young man was truly being considered as someone who might step into her husband’s case at such a critical moment, then she could not simply rely on stories, impressions, or her daughter’s conviction alone. She needed something firm something recognizable, something that fit within the world as she understood it.And Liam, seeing that expectation in her face, gave a small, quiet shake of his head.“Well,” he said, “as for any colleges or schoo

Immediately after Penelope whispered those words to him, Liam gave no sign that anything had changed.His expression remained calm, unreadable, almost detached in the way only someone deeply in control of himself could manage. He simply adjusted his posture, gave the faintest nod, and let the moment pass without drawing attention to it.Then, as though accepting the family’s decision at face value, he spoke clearly enough for those nearby to hear.“I’ll be taking my leave now,” he said.His voice was polite, steady, and without offense.He turned first to Penelope and offered a slight bow of the head. “Sorry for everything that happened.”Then he looked at her mother and said, with quiet sincerity, “I’m very, very sorry.”There was no bitterness in his tone, no hint that he had just been doubted, dismissed, and nearly thrown out of the hospital corridor. If anything, his apology sounded painfully genuine, as though he regretted that he had been unable to do more, even though he had no

The instant Liam caught her wrist, the female doctor jerked back in outrage.Her entire face changed.The careful professionalism she had been wearing only moments ago cracked, and in its place came naked anger.“What the hell are you doing?” she snapped. “Why are you holding my hand? How dare you?”Her voice came out sharp and offended, but Liam did not release her.If anything, his expression grew stiller.“Well,” he said calmly, “that is not the most important thing right now.”His eyes dropped briefly to the injection in her hand.“Because that injection you are holding,” he said, “is not for emergency surgery.”The words hit the air like a blade.Penelope’s head turned sharply toward him.The female doctor froze for one split second.Liam continued before either of them could interrupt.“It has nothing to do with preparing a patient for surgery,” he said. “The content inside that injection is meant to slow the heart down—gradually, not immediately. But eventually, it can stop the

By the time Penelope’s brother stepped out of the elevator and into the VIP lobby, his anger had already built itself into something sharp and unstable.He had come up in a rush, driven by suspicion, irritation, and a growing certainty that his sister had deceived him. But the very moment he entered the lobby and found it empty, that certainty twisted into something else.Tension, the place was quiet.Far too quiet.The polished floors reflected the overhead lights with sterile perfection. The expensive chairs arranged around the waiting area sat untouched. No movement. No doctor passing by. No nurse crossing the corridor. No Penelope.The silence pressed in on him at once, and a strange uneasiness crawled up his spine.He stopped in the middle of the lobby and looked around sharply.“Where the hell is Penelope?” he muttered.His eyes moved from one side of the waiting area to the other, then toward the adjoining hallway, then back again.Nothing.He took a few more steps, scanning ev