Chapter 3
Damian looked down at me with absolute condescension.
"Don't you dare touch a single hair on her head! I'm gonna make sure you and that little mutt die together!"
I grit my teeth, forcing myself not to cry out.
"Damian, Leo is your own flesh and blood too. Do you seriously not give a damn if he lives or dies?"
Damian shoved my hand away roughly.
"A defective failure doesn't deserve to carry my lineage."
He pulled out a black card and handed it to Lily.
"Go downstairs and grab whatever desserts you fancy. I'll come find you right after I deal with this psycho."
Lily took the black card.
She flashed me a smug, triumphant grin and turned on her heel and glided toward the elevator.
Only Damian and I were left in the empty corridor.
Damian pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the hand that touched me.
"Evelyn, let's make things perfectly clear today. The firm's cash flow has been incredibly tight lately. Lily needs tons of rare herbs to protect her pregnancy. Leo's medical fund is completely cut off starting today."
I snapped to my feet.
"Are you out of your mind?! Cutting his medical fund is gonna kill Leo instantly!"
Damian threw the handkerchief into the trash bin.
"Then let him die. The saved money can go straight into buying Lily's supplements. Now sign this waiver to terminate his treatment immediately."
He pulled a document from his inner suit pocket and flung it at my face.
The paperwork struck my forehead and fluttered onto the floor.
I didn't even bother to pick it up but stared straight into his cold eyes.
"What if I refuse to sign?"
Damian closed the distance between us menacingly.
He wrapped his hand tightly around my throat and pinned me hard against the freezing wall.
"Refuse? Then I'm gonna go pull that little mutt's plugs right now. Let's see who's got the guts to stop me."
He released his grip and turned and stormed down the stairwell.
Clutching my throat, I coughed violently and desperately scrambled after Damian.
He kicked open the ICU doors with a deafening bang, and the lead physician jumped up in pure terror.
Damian strode straight toward Leo's bed.
Leo was hooked up to a ventilator, his tiny hand mindlessly clutching the bedsheet.
Damian reached out and grabbed the ventilator's power cord.
"Damian, stop! No!"
I threw myself forward, locking my arms around his leg.
"I'm begging you! Don't pull his tubes! I don't wanna touch a single dime of your money anymore! I'm gonna find a way myself!"
Damian kicked me away ruthlessly, sending my back to slam hard into the medical monitors, and the machines instantly blared with a piercing alarm.
Damian pointed a finger right at me.
"How're you gonna figure anything out? You're absolutely nothing without me!"
Lily chose that exact moment to waltz into the room, holding an elegant slice of mousse cake in her hand.
"Damian, it reeks so bad in here.
"It's suffocating with the smell of medicine."
She pinched her nose, looking down at Leo with utter disgust.
"Is this that dying kid you talked about? Gosh, he's hideous. All hairy like some kind of little monster."
Damian immediately rushed over to Lily's side, wrapping his arm protectively around her waist.
"Don't look at him, sweetheart. We don't wanna scare our little pup."
Dragging myself up from the floor, I shielded Leo's bed with my own body.
"Get the hell out! Both of you, get out of here right now!"
Damian's expression darkened instantly.
"Evelyn, you think you can yell at Lily like that? Get down on your knees and apologize to Lily this instant!"
I bit down on my lip as hard as I could.
The sharp taste of copper filled my mouth.
"I'd rather die than apologize to this bitch!"
Damian whipped around in a blind rage.
He ripped the IV line straight out of Leo's arm, and Blood instantly sprayed from the back of the boy's hand.
Leo let out a faint, agonizing whimper, and his tiny body began to seize violently.
"No! Stop!"
Screaming, I threw myself over Leo.
I pressed my hands down hard over his bleeding hand.
Damian watched the chaos with pure coldness.
"On your knees and apologize. Or the ventilator comes off next."
Lily took a delicate bite of her cake.
She watched my misery with deep amusement.
"Hey Evelyn, weren't you talking all tough a second ago? Why're you stopping now?"
Leo's convulsions grew weaker and weaker.
The lines on the cardiac monitor started to flatten out.
Staring at my son's ghostly pale face, I slowly turned around.
My knees completely buckled beneath me, dropping heavily onto the floor right in front of Lily.
"I'm sorry." I forced out each syllable through clenched teeth.
Lily let out a mocking chuckle. "Louder, I can't hear you."
I raised my voice. "I said I'm sorry!"
Damian grunted in smug satisfaction. "That's more like it. Since you know your place now, I'll let him keep his plugs today.
"But you gotta get this little mutt out of the hospital by this week. Lily's gonna use this VIP suite as her delivery room."
He threw his arm around Lily and they strolled out together.
The lead physician rushed over to reinsert Leo's IV line.
I slumped onto the floor, completely hollowed out.
A nurse ran over with gauze to dress my blistered hand.
I pushed her away coldly and pulled out my backup phone.
I brought up the picture of the ultrasound report from my gallery.
I dialed the corporate notary's number.
"Hello, this is Evelyn Grant. I wanna execute the penalty clauses of our blood oath agreement."
Right after, I dialed another number hidden at the very bottom of my contacts.
The call went through.
"Your Majesty. Does your offer from three years ago still stand?"