Chapter 5

Hereditary.

My hands trembling, I opened the journal.

The pages were yellowed, filled with my mother's elegant handwriting, detailing her thoughts during her final months.

[My body is failing. The doctor says it's my liver. A rare genetic disorder that affects protein synthesis. I'm not scared. I'm terrified for Caroline. What if she has it too? She's so young. If she does... I can't even think about it.]

[Read a foreign medical article today. It mentioned a specific protein that can improve liver function. It's not available here at all. I asked around. They say it's found in a wild…