Chapter 6 Fractures Beneath the Surface

It started with a cough.

Just one-soft and dry, almost easy to dismiss. But something about the sound froze me mid-step as I walked past the guest suite. It wasn't just any cough. It was Liam's.

And it didn't stop.

I pushed open the door without knocking.

"Liam?"

Isabella sat on the edge of the bed, her back to me, gently patting his back. His little frame was curled under the blanket, but I could see the tension in her shoulders as his coughing turned harsh, ragged.

She looked over her shoulder, her face pale and eyes wide.

"Micheal, something's wrong."

Then I rush immediately to bed.

I was by her side in two strides, kneeling beside the bed. Liam's skin was flushed, and his breathing came out in shallow gasps.

"He was fine an hour ago," she whispered. "He was laughing with me. He even ate."

"Get Dr. Halsten," I barked into my earpiece. "Now!"

The room exploded into motion. The in-house medical team rushed in, their movements sharp and practiced, but it felt like the world had slowed around me. I held onto Liam's tiny hand, watching his lips turn slightly blue.

My son-my flesh and blood-was fighting to breathe.

And I couldn't do a damn thing.

Isabella was shaking beside me. Tears streamed down her face as she clutched Liam's favorite toy bunny to her chest.

"We shouldn't have come," she said again, her voice broken. "I should've stayed away like I planned."

"No," I said, voice hoarse. "This would've happened no matter where you were. But here-he has the best care possible. Here, we fight."

Dr. Halsten adjusted Liam's IV. "He's having a bronchospasm. His lungs are inflamed. We're administering a nebulizer and a new anti-inflammatory compound immediately. Give us some space."

Reluctantly, Isabella and I stepped out into the hallway.

She turned on me the moment the door closed.

"I need to know the truth," she demanded, her voice raw. "All of it. The threats. The enemies. Why was that man in the photo watching us? Don't sugarcoat anything, because right now my son's life's at skating. "Micheal, You owe me that much."

I nodded, heart pounding.

I led her to my office, closed the door, and showed her the file Marcus left behind. Every photo. Every connection. Every hint that Victor Kael had been watching her and Liam long before I even knew Liam existed.

Her face turned white.

"He knew before you did," she whispered.

"Looks like it." because he has been found in different locations that you have visited.

"Which means... this sickness..."

I caught her implication immediately and stood, pacing the office like a caged animal.

"You think Kael poisoned him?" I asked.

She didn't answer-but her silence spoke volumes.

And now that the thought was in my head, it refused to leave.

Kael wasn't the kind of man to strike openly. He preferred to rot things from within-just like he promised my father before he disappeared.

Liam's sickness wasn't natural.

I felt it in my gut.

"I need to move both of you to a secure location," I said. "Somewhere Kael can't reach."

"No," Isabella snapped. "I'm not letting your world swallow us. I don't want Liam to grow up locked behind walls like a prisoner."

"Would you rather allow him to die?"

Her hand struck my cheek before I even saw it coming.

The slap echoed in the office. Pain bloomed across my face-but it was nothing compared to the pain in her eyes.

"You think this is easy for me?" she hissed. "I kept him alive without your help for three years. I worked two jobs. I watched him struggle to breathe at night. I begged doctors to see him when I had no money."

I borrowed money to keep him medically fit, struggling all through the night.

Her voice cracked. "And now I bring him here, and it feels like I'm handing him over to wolves. You-your enemies-this world you live in-it's killing him, Micheal."

I stood there, stunned. Speechless.

Because maybe... just maybe... she was right.

Not about the guilt-I didn't cause Liam's illness-but about how unprepared I was to protect something this fragile. This is real. Business, I understood. Money, power, contracts, mergers-I could crush rivals in the boardroom.

But this?

This was different.

This was fatherhood.

And I was failing.

I'm losing the trust that I told them to have in me.

Everything was just happening faster than expected.

---

A few hours later, Marcus returned with news.

"Kael was spotted leaving a private clinic two towns over. We have footage. He met with a woman-Cynthia Delores. Former chemist. Blacklisted for experimenting with biological toxins."

My blood ran cold.

"You think she's connected to this?" I asked.

"I think it's a damn good possibility," Marcus replied. "And I think we're running out of time to prove it."

I clenched my jaw. "Then it's time I paid Kael a visit."

"Not alone," Marcus warned.

But I was already putting on my coat.

"I won't touch him," I said. "Not yet. But I want him to see me. I want him to know I'm not scared. And I want him to understand-if anything happens to my son, I'll do more than ruin him."

Marcus nodded slowly. "Just be careful. Kael doesn't play by any rules."

"I don't either," I muttered.

---

That night, I stood outside Kael's mansion in the hills, watching the lights flicker from the upper windows. My fists were clenched, my heart pounding like war drums.

The gates were open.

Almost like he wanted me to come in.

And I would. Just to show him that I'm not afraid of what he has in his mind.

Because the moment I stepped through those gates... the game would change.

But I didn't care.

Because this wasn't about business anymore.

This was about blood.