My Ex-Convict Beggar Husband Is Now a Trillionaire

Chapter 4

Peter turned on the nurses with a look that could have set the building on fire. His neck was red all the way up to his ears, and the vein on his temple was throbbing so hard it was visible from across the driveway.

"Start talking. Right now. Every single detail, or I will have security hold you here until the police arrive."

The head nurse was already crying, mascara running down her cheeks in black streaks. The younger one beside her had her hand still pressed to her face where Peter had slapped her, and the third nurse was backing away slowly like she was thinking about running.

"It was Julian!" The head nurse's voice came out high and broken. "Julian Ashford. He came to us a year ago. He told us to stop processing the payments for the old woman's treatment."

Peter's face twisted. "The bills were being paid?"

"Yes, sir. For the first two years, someone was transferring the money every month. Then Julian came and told us to block the payments and let the debt pile up." She wiped her nose with the back of her hand, her whole body shaking. "He promised us a huge payout. He told us that when the woman's son got out of prison and came to take her home, we were supposed to humiliate them. Make them feel like dirt. Make sure they left this hospital knowing they were nothing."

"He bribed you." Peter's voice was low now, which was worse than when he was shouting. "You took a bribe to torture a dying woman and her son."

"He offered us so much money, sir. A year's salary each. We just had to wait and do what he told us."

Peter looked at all three of them like he was seeing them clearly for the first time and wishing he was not.

"You are fired. All three of you. Effective immediately. And I am personally filing a report with the police. You will answer for this."

The head nurse's legs gave out. She dropped to the ground like someone had cut the strings holding her up, her eyes rolling back as she fainted on the cold concrete. The other two just stood there, frozen, tears streaming down their faces in silence.

Adrian watched all of it from a few steps away. The anger in his chest had not gone away, but something about seeing the truth come out made it easier to breathe. Julian had planned this. Every moment of cruelty, every insult, every shove to the ground. It was all arranged like a show, and his mother was the prop.

He turned to Sarah, and his voice was steady now.

"What do we do about my mother? She needs real treatment. The kind she should have been getting this whole time."

Sarah looked at the lead doctor from the Hands of God team, a grey haired man with calm eyes and steady hands who had already been examining Mary on the bench.

"How is she?" Sarah asked.

The doctor stood up and removed his gloves carefully. "She is extremely fragile. Her organs are under severe stress from months of neglected care. I would not recommend moving her any significant distance right now. The transfer alone could put her into cardiac arrest."

Sarah did not hesitate. She turned to Peter, who was still standing in the middle of his own disaster with sweat on his forehead.

"Skyward Technology will purchase this hospital. Effective today. The top floor will be renovated into a private ICU with the most advanced equipment available. Everything my team needs will be flown in within twenty four hours."

Peter blinked. Then blinked again. "You want to buy the entire hospital?"

"You will be compensated generously. Far above market value. Do we have a deal, or do I need to make a phone call to someone above you?"

Peter nodded so fast it looked like his head might come loose. "Yes. Yes, absolutely. Whatever you need."

Sarah turned back to Adrian with a small, reassuring nod. "Your mother will have the best care in the country. I give you my word."

Adrian exhaled for what felt like the first time in hours. Around them, a small crowd had gathered near the entrance. Several people had their phones out, recording everything. The luxury cars, the doctors, the crying nurses on the ground.

Sarah noticed them immediately. She leaned closer to Adrian and lowered her voice.

"Do you want your identity made public? Once those videos hit the internet, the whole world will know who you are."

"No." Adrian shook his head quickly. "I don't want anyone knowing. Not yet."

Sarah raised her hand and two bodyguards in black suits stepped forward. They moved through the crowd smoothly, speaking to each person one by one, offering a thousand dollars in cash to anyone who deleted their footage on the spot. Most people's eyes went wide and their fingers moved to the delete button before the bodyguard even finished the sentence.

"Don't worry about stragglers," Sarah told Adrian as she walked him toward the lead car. "Skyward's AI system, Aegis, monitors the entire web around the clock. If anything leaks, a photo, a video, even a mention of your name connected to today, Aegis will detect it and wipe it within minutes. Your identity is safe."

Adrian nodded, though his mind was still at the bench where his mother was being carefully transferred onto a proper stretcher by the medical team.

Sarah opened the car door for him. "Once your mother is settled, I would like to take you to Skyward's corporate headquarters. The board has been waiting to meet you for a long time."

"Meet me? Why? I just bought shares and got lucky."

Sarah smiled like he had told a joke he did not realize was funny. "Mr. Adrian, we pulled your records. Before your imprisonment, you graduated top of your class from one of the best universities in the country with a degree in Computer Science. The board does not see a lucky fool. They see a brilliant mind who happens to own eighty percent of their company. They are very eager to talk to you."

Adrian looked at her for a long moment. Three years ago he was signing papers to go to prison. This morning he was lying on a hospital floor being called a dog. And now a woman in a suit worth more than his old apartment was holding a car door open for him and calling him brilliant.

He stepped into the car. The leather seat was soft, the air inside was warm, and for the first time in three years, nobody was looking at him like he was less than human.

Then his phone started buzzing. Not once. Not twice. Over and over, frantic and aggressive, like the person on the other end was stabbing the call button with their finger.

He looked at the screen. Chloe.

He answered and held the phone to his ear.

"Why haven't you come home yet?" Her voice hit him before he could even say hello, sharp and demanding. "You're out of prison, aren't you?"