Chapter 6 - NOAH’S SURGERY
Noah’s surgery was scheduled for September 18.
Claire had crossed out two dates already.
She refused to believe the third until they admitted him.
Nico wanted to come.
She said:
“Why?”
He looked offended.
“Because he knows me.”
“He has met you twice.”
“Three times.”
“One was FaceTime.”
“Still counts.”
Noah loved Nico.
Not because of the name.
Because Nico owned an absurd collection of model cars.
The first time Noah visited the estate, he stared at them.
“You don’t play with these?”
“They’re collectibles.”
“That means toys for adults.”
Nico had looked at Claire.
“Is he always like this?”
“Yes.”
Surgery morning, Nico arrived at the hospital in a plain jacket.
One security person.
No entourage.
Claire nearly cried when she saw him.
“You didn’t need to come.”
“I know.”
That was why it mattered.
Noah was terrified.
He tried hiding it.
“Does it hurt?”
The surgeon answered honestly.
Afterward, yes.
During, no.
Noah looked at Claire.
Then Nico.
“You got hurt really bad.”
“Yes.”
“Was surgery scary?”
“Yes.”
No heroic lie.
“What did you do?”
Nico thought.
“I let people who knew more than me do their jobs.”
Claire stared.
For Nico Bellanti, this was apparently spiritual enlightenment.
Noah nodded.
“Okay.”
He went back with the nurses.
The surgery lasted four hours.
Successful.
Claire cried against the hospital corridor wall.
Nico stayed beside her.
Did not touch her until she leaned toward him.
Then he put one arm around her.
No words.
She understood why Christopher Bellamy? Wrong universe. No. We don't refer.
She simply let herself be held.
Later, Noah woke groggy.
First question:
“Did they fix it?”
Claire laughed through tears.
“Yes.”
“Cool.”
Then he slept.
That night, Claire sat in the pediatric room.
Nico had gone home.
Her phone buzzed.
A photo.
His physical therapist had captured Nico standing between parallel bars.
No hands.
Three seconds.
Message:
DON’T TELL NOAH. I WANT TO WIN OUR BET.
Claire smiled.
Noah had bet Nico he would walk ten steps before Noah could run a full lap after recovery.
Two people with complicated bodies making ridiculous competition out of rehabilitation.
It was good.
Then another message arrived.
From Rachel.
CALL.
Claire stepped into the hallway.
“What?”
Rachel sounded frightened.
“Somebody broke into the lab storage.”
Claire went cold.
“The samples?”
“Gone.”
“What?”
“The original tablets.”
“Do you have results?”
“Yes. Photos. Instrument data. Reports.”
“But physical samples?”
“Gone.”
Claire leaned against the wall.
“Who knew?”
“Very few people.”
Someone was still trying to destroy evidence.
Adrian was under investigation.
Vanessa?
Free.
Her father?
Hale Capital.
Then Rachel said:
“They didn’t take everything.”
“What?”
“I split the samples.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Beautiful.
“Where’s the second set?”
“University archive under independent custody.”
Chain of custody.
Again.
Claire smiled.
“You finally learned.”
Rachel laughed nervously.
“From you.”
The attempted evidence destruction backfired.
Security footage captured the intruder.
A contract employee connected to a private investigations company.
Who hired them?
Hale Capital’s general counsel.
Vanessa’s father claimed ignorance.
Emails disagreed.
The conspiracy expanded.
The wedding had not merely been Vanessa and Adrian freelancing.
Hale Capital wanted Bellanti Holdings distressed enough to acquire.
Vanessa’s father knew about the drugging?
Investigators could not yet prove he knew specifics.
But he knew Adrian planned to manufacture incapacity.
That was enough to destroy the proposed financing deal.
Hale Capital withdrew.
Then regulators began asking questions.
Vanessa disappeared from Chicago.
For twelve hours.
Then her passport triggered an alert at O’Hare.
She was arrested before boarding a flight to Switzerland.
In her luggage:
Two phones.
$40,000 cash.
And one document signed by Nico.
Claire stared when investigators showed him.
“What is it?”
Old power of attorney.
Signed six months earlier.
Nico looked sick.
“I don’t remember signing that.”
Claire did.
That month had been one of his worst cognitively.
The document gave Vanessa limited authority over personal medical and financial matters if two physicians declared incapacity.
One physician had already signed.
Dr. Martin Vale.
Nico’s former rehabilitation specialist.
The second signature was blank.
Vanessa had been one doctor away from legal control over his personal affairs.
May you like
And Dr. Vale had received $300,000 from Hale Capital’s “medical advisory fund.”
---
