Chapter 8

Enos burst into a loud, mocking laugh. It echoed harshly against the hospital walls.

"You?" Enos pointed at Adelia, tears of amusement forming in his eyes. "Are you insane? You think hiding in Europe for six years suddenly makes you a chief surgeon? You don't even have a license!"

Bonny didn't laugh. Her eyes narrowed, a dark, venomous calculation sliding into her gaze. She saw an opportunity. A way to get rid of Adelia permanently.

Bonny placed a gentle hand on Enos's arm. "Dad, wait. If Adelia is so confident... maybe we should let her try."

Enos stared at Bonny like she was crazy. "Are you out of your mind? If she touches Mother-"

"Let me finish," Bonny interrupted, her voice dropping to a hushed, urgent whisper only Enos could hear. "Dr. Frye just said the success rate is under five percent. She's going to kill Grandma on the table. And when she does, we file criminal charges. Manslaughter. The state will take care of her for us. Meanwhile, Grandma dies anyway-which is what we wanted. We get the inheritance, and Adelia goes to prison. It's two birds with one stone."

Enos's eyes flickered. He chewed on the inside of his cheek, weighing the risk. The DNR was a sure thing-pull the tube, Mother dies in hours, inheritance secured. But letting Adelia operate introduced a tiny chance of survival. Under five percent, Frye had said. Nearly impossible. And if Adelia failed, she would be destroyed completely-not just disinherited, but incarcerated. The board would applaud him for cleaning house.

He nodded slowly. "Fine. But we do it my way."

Bonny turned to the family lawyer. "Do you have a blank total liability waiver?"

The lawyer nodded, pulling a crisp document from his briefcase.

Bonny took it and held it out to Adelia. Her voice was sickeningly sweet, projecting perfectly for the gathered medical staff to hear. "Sign this, sister. Dad is just so worried. This document states that you take full, absolute responsibility for the surgery. It also confirms that you are acting against medical advice and that no one-not the hospital, not the family-bears any liability for the outcome."

Bonny leaned in, dropping her voice to a vicious, inaudible whisper meant only for Adelia's ears. "When Grandma dies on your operating table-and she will die-this waiver won't stop the criminal charges. The state will prosecute you for practicing medicine without a license, for gross negligence, for manslaughter. You'll rot in a cell. And with a felony conviction, any future claim you might try to make against this family-for your mother's foundation, for anything-will be laughed out of court. You'll be nothing."

The nurses in the hallway gasped. It was a lethal legal trap.

Dr. Frye stepped forward, his face pale. "Adelia, don't be foolish. The success rate for this procedure is under five percent. Even with your skills-" He stopped himself, realizing he was about to reveal her identity.

Adelia looked at the waiver in Bonny's hand. She didn't feel fear. She felt a cold, absolute superiority. Her lips curled into a smirk that made Bonny flinch.

Adelia reached into the lawyer's breast pocket, pulled out his expensive fountain pen, and without reading a single word, slashed her signature across the bottom line.

Bonny's heart soared. She's dead, Bonny thought, her hands trembling with excitement.

"Excellent," Enos sneered. "Frye, prep the room. I want front-row seats to this murder."

Dr. Frye shook his head violently. "I can't allow this! Hospital policy strictly forbids non-registered personnel from operating. It's illegal! I won't let you touch her!"

Adelia calmly handed the pen back to the lawyer. She reached into her sleek trench coat and pulled out a solid black, laser-etched metal card.

She walked up to Dr. Frye and slapped the heavy metal directly against his chest.

"Read it," she ordered.

Frye fumbled to catch the card. He adjusted his glasses, squinting at the silver engraving. His hands suddenly began to shake violently.

It was an SSS-Class Global Immunity Medical License, issued by the International Medical Supreme Council.

And under the holder's name, it read: Ada.

It was her mother's childhood nickname, a quiet tribute Adelia had adopted years ago. Because the elite medical world only ever spoke the legendary surgeon's name in hushed, reverent whispers, no one had ever connected the spelling of 'Ada' to the disgraced Adelia Compton.

Frye's jaw dropped. All the blood drained from his face. He stumbled backward, pointing a trembling finger at Adelia.

"You..." Frye stuttered, his voice cracking. "You're Ada? The surgeon who did ten back-to-back artificial heart transplants in Geneva last year? You're the ghost surgeon?"

The entire hallway went dead silent. You could hear a pin drop.

Bonny's victorious smile froze, shattering into a million pieces. It was as if she had been violently slapped across the face by an invisible hand.

Enos's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. The worthless daughter he had thrown out like garbage was the legendary medical god that billionaires begged to see?

Adelia stepped forward, plucking the black card from Frye's limp fingers. She tilted her chin up, looking down at them all like a queen surveying her peasants.

"Dr. Frye," Adelia's voice was a whip crack. "You are my first assist. Scrub in. Now."

"Yes, Dr. Ada! Right away!" Frye practically tripped over his own feet as he sprinted toward the surgical prep wing.

As Adelia walked past Bonny, she paused. She leaned in, the scent of sterile alcohol radiating from her coat.

"Get ready for your nightmare, Bonny," Adelia whispered.

She pushed through the double doors, leaving her family suffocating in their own shock.