Chapter 5 5

The private clinic smelled of antiseptic and money. Grafton paced the VIP waiting room, his phone pressed to his ear.

"What do you mean his platelets are crashing?" he shouted.

His brother, Preston, sat in the corner, head in his hands. Preston's son, Tripp-Grafton's favorite nephew-was in the ICU.

A doctor in a white coat stepped in. "Mr. Huff, we need a bone marrow transplant. Immediately. The donor registry is too slow. We need a match we've used before."

Grafton froze. There was only one person who had been a perfect match for Tripp's rare blood type three years ago.

"Call her," Preston said, looking up. His eyes were red. "Get Katharina."

Grafton swallowed. "She's... unavailable."

"Unavailable?" Preston stood up, knocking his chair over. "My son is dying, Grafton! You said you were 'handling' her! Did you exile our only compatible family donor?"

Grafton turned to Arthur, his CFO, who was standing by the door. "Find her. Now."

Arthur typed furiously on his tablet. "She logged into an old cloud account to transfer a school file for... someone named Leo? I have a location ping. A coffee shop in Brooklyn."

"Send the team," Grafton ordered. "Bring her here."

Katharina was sitting in a corner booth, sipping lukewarm black coffee. She was emailing the admissions office of a boarding school upstate.

Two men in dark suits entered the shop. They didn't look like customers. They looked like hammers looking for a nail.

They spotted her. One of them grabbed her upper arm.

"Ms. Wiley. You're coming with us."

Katharina didn't scream. She didn't fight. She saw the desperation in their grip. "Is it Tripp?" she asked.

The guard blinked. "Just get in the car."

She went. Not because they forced her, but because Tripp was seven years old and innocent.

When she walked into the clinic waiting room, Grafton didn't hug her. He didn't look relieved. He looked entitled.

"Prep her," Grafton barked at the nurse. "She needs to be in surgery in ten minutes."

He turned to Katharina. "You took your time."

Katharina stood still. She looked at Preston, who was weeping. She looked at Grafton, who was checking his watch.

"No," she said.

The room went silent. The air conditioning hummed.

"Excuse me?" Grafton stepped closer.

"My familial obligations are void," Katharina said. "No."

Preston lunged at her. "You bitch! He's a child!"

Katharina sidestepped him. She pulled a folded document from her hoodie pocket-a standard medical liability waiver she carried for her Broker jobs.

"I donated three years ago because I was family," she said. "Now, I am a stranger. And strangers require consent."

"I'll sue you," Grafton snarled. "I'll sue you for negligence. I'll destroy you."

"Bodily autonomy, Grafton," Katharina said, her voice cold. "Supreme Court precedent. You can't court-order a needle into my spine."

She looked toward the ICU doors. Her heart ached for Tripp. But she knew if she gave in now-if she gave them this without a fight-she would never be free. They would harvest her until she was dry.

"I have a condition," she said.

Grafton's eyes narrowed. "Name it."

"Return the IP rights to the shell companies listed under my maiden name. Full transfer. Today."

Grafton's face turned purple. "You're holding a child hostage for patents? You monster."

"I'm learning from the best," Katharina said. "You have one hour to decide. Or you can wait for the public registry."

She turned and walked toward the elevator.

"Where are you going?" Grafton screamed.

"To get a real coffee," she said. "Call my lawyer if you want to save your nephew."