Chapter 2 2

Emelie stared at the screen. The name Clifton pulsed in white letters against the black background.

Three seconds passed.

She swiped green.

"Emelie?" Clifton's voice came through, rich and deep. In the background, the clinking of crystal glasses and the murmur of polite laughter were audible. "I'm at the Gala, Emelie. You know the board expects me to cultivate the Asian markets tonight. Gavin said you texted about a fever."

Cultivate.

Emelie let out a short, dry laugh. It sounded like something breaking.

"Is that what you call her now?" Emelie asked. Her voice was raspy, stripped raw by the screaming. "A market opportunity? Or is Eleanora just a 'client' tonight?"

Silence on the other end. The background noise seemed to fade, as if Clifton had stepped away or covered the microphone.

"Don't start this, Emelie. Not tonight. I saw the text about a fever. Is Lily okay?"

"She stopped breathing, Clifton."

Emelie heard a sharp intake of breath on the other end.

"She had a seizure," Emelie continued, staring at the closed doors of the trauma bay. "Her lungs filled with blood. I had to force the attending to treat a Diffuse Alveolar Hemorrhage because the standard protocol was too slow. I am sitting on the floor of the ER, soaking wet, covered in vomit."

"I..." Clifton's voice faltered. "I didn't know it was that bad. I'm coming. I'm leaving now."

"Don't bother," Emelie said. "The show is over. She's stable."

"Emelie, listen to me-"

She hung up.

She dropped the phone into her lap and leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes.

Memories assaulted her. Eight years ago. A younger Clifton, standing in the rain outside her father's funeral, holding an umbrella over her. He had looked at her with such intensity then. He had promised to take care of her.

When did that man die?

Hours passed in a blur of beeping monitors and squeaking rubber shoes.

Around 4:00 AM, the doors opened. Dr. Aris walked out. He looked exhausted, but there was a new expression on his face when he looked at Emelie. Respect. Bordering on fear.

"She's stable," he said quietly. "The steroids worked. The bleeding has stopped. Her oxygen is back up to 96%."

Emelie let out a breath she felt she'd been holding for hours. "Thank you."

"Mrs. Wilder," Dr. Aris hesitated. "That diagnosis... the catch on the vasculitis. That was... intuitive. Very few attending physicians would have caught that on a raw scan."

"I read a lot," Emelie said, standing up and brushing the dust off her ruined silk pants. "Can I see her?"

She sat by Lily's bed for the rest of the night, holding her daughter's small hand, wrapped in tape and tubes. She didn't sleep. She just watched the rise and fall of Lily's chest, counting every breath.

Around 7:00 AM, exhaustion finally claimed her. Her head dipped onto the mattress.

When she woke, light was streaming through the blinds.

The bed was empty.

Emelie shot up, her chair clattering backward. "Lily?"

A nurse-not the one from last night-hurried in. "Mrs. Wilder? Oh, good, you're awake."

"Where is my daughter?" Emelie demanded, panic seizing her throat.

"Mr. Wilder arranged for a transfer about an hour ago," the nurse said, checking her chart. "He had her moved to the St. Jude's Private Recovery Center uptown."

"He took her?" Emelie felt the blood drain from her face. "Without waking me? Without my consent?"

"Mr. Wilder invoked the emergency medical proxy clause in your prenup," the nurse said apologetically. "The legal team faxed it over. It grants him primary decision-making power in critical care situations. He wanted her in a more... private facility."

Privacy.

He didn't want the paparazzi to see his sick child at a public hospital after he'd been out partying with his mistress. And he had the legal paperwork to ensure Emelie couldn't stop him.

Emelie walked out of the hospital into the morning sun. The storm had passed, leaving the city washed clean and bright.

But her world was gray.

She hailed a cab. She didn't have her car keys; the valet still had them.

When she walked into the penthouse, the silence was deafening. It wasn't just quiet; it was hollow.

She walked up the stairs, past the master bedroom, and into her large walk-in closet.

She locked the door.

She knelt down in the far corner, behind the rows of designer gowns she barely wore. She pulled up a loose floorboard that was covered by a shoe rack.

Underneath was a safe.

She punched in the code: 1-9-8-5. Her father's birth year.

Inside sat a heavy, reinforced laptop. It looked outdated, a brick of a machine, but it was a custom-built secure workstation disguised as legacy tech.

She placed it on the velvet ottoman and opened it. She pressed the power button.

The screen didn't show a Windows logo or an Apple icon. It booted into a black screen with green command lines.

BIOMETRIC SCAN REQUIRED.

Emelie placed her thumb on the scanner.

ACCESS GRANTED. WELCOME, GHOST.

The desktop appeared. It was cluttered with complex molecular structures, 3D protein folding simulations running via a remote link to a supercomputer cluster, and a secure email client bearing the digital signature of the ETH Zurich research department.

One unread email sat at the top, flagged in red.

From: Dr. Lucas Vance

Subject: RT303 - Phase 1 Complete

Emelie clicked it.

Ghost,

The simulation held. The molecule you designed... it's binding to the viral receptors perfectly. We are ready for Phase 2. But we need you. The board is asking questions about who is behind the research. I can't keep stalling them.

Emelie ran her fingers over the keys. For five years, she had been Emelie Wilder, the trophy wife. The woman who lunched. The woman who smiled and nodded.

But before that, she was Dr. Garvin Glover's prodigy.

She began to type.

Proceed to Phase 2. Initiate the blind trials. I will upload the modified protocol tonight. My identity remains classified. No exceptions.

She hit send.

The sound of a heavy front door slamming downstairs made her jump.

Clifton.

Emelie slammed the laptop shut, shoved it back into the safe, and replaced the floorboard. She stood up, stripped off her dirty clothes, and pulled on a silk robe.

She unlocked the closet door and walked into the bedroom just as Clifton entered.

He looked terrible. His tuxedo shirt was unbuttoned, his eyes bloodshot. He smelled of stale scotch and expensive perfume.

"Emelie," he breathed, running a hand through his hair. "I went to the hospital, they said you left."

Emelie turned to the mirror, picking up a hairbrush. She began to brush her tangled hair with slow, rhythmic strokes.

"I came home to shower," she said. Her voice was calm. Terrifyingly calm.

"I moved Lily," Clifton said, watching her reflection. "The press... I couldn't risk them getting photos of her intubated. St. Jude's is better. Best doctors in the world."

"I'm sure," Emelie said.

Clifton walked over to her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a black card. The Centurion card. Heavy titanium.

He placed it on the vanity table.

"Get her whatever she needs. Toys, clothes. Get yourself something too. You look... tired."

Emelie looked at the card. It glinted in the sunlight.

It was guilt money. A payoff for his absence. A pacifier for the wife.

"Thank you, darling," Emelie said. She turned and offered him a perfect, porcelain smile. It didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes were dead.

Clifton blinked. He had expected screaming. He had expected tears. This robotic compliance unsettled him more than any tantrum could.

"Right," he mumbled, loosening his tie. "I have a family dinner tonight. Mother is coming. You need to be ready by seven."

"Of course," Emelie said. "I'll be ready."

Clifton lingered for a moment, looking at her as if trying to solve a puzzle, then turned and walked into the bathroom.

As soon as the water turned on, Emelie's smile vanished.

She opened the drawer of the vanity and swept the black card into it, burying it under a pile of lipsticks.

She picked up her phone and dialed Harper Cole.

"Harper," Emelie said, staring at her own reflection. "Draft the papers."

"Divorce?" Harper asked, her voice hushed. "Emelie, are you sure? The Wilder legal team is a shark tank. They will eat you alive."

"I want full custody," Emelie said, her voice hard as diamond. "And I want half the assets. Start digging."