Chapter 4 - The Castle Transformation
The Whitmore estate, usually a quiet, sterile mansion governed by strict corporate schedules, was suddenly transformed by the presence of three children.
Nathan had instructed the staff to prepare the large guest suite right next to the twins' bedroom for Lily. By midnight, the little girl was fast asleep beneath a soft pink duvet, her breathing monitored by a portable medical oxygen concentrator Nathan had rushed delivered to the house through his private medical contacts.
Nathan sat in his dark study, the leather folder of twenty-two million dollar contracts still sitting untouched on his desk. He opened his laptop, but instead of reviewing stock portfolios, he was reading through the medical files of Lily Bennett, which Mrs. Gable had given him in a neat folder.
As he scanned the pages, his jaw tightened in anger.
Lily’s heart condition—a congenital ventricular defect—was entirely treatable through a specialized corrective surgery performed by a top pediatric surgeon at New York Presbyterian. The cost of the procedure was three hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Because Claire was a contract domestic worker, her basic insurance had denied the coverage, labeling it a "pre-existing condition."
Claire had been systematically destroying her own health, skipping meals and working eighteen-hour days, just to save up the deductible for a clinical trial that might not even work.
Suddenly, the door to the study creaked open.
Lucas and Owen stood in their pajamas, holding a blanket between them. "Daddy?" Lucas whispered. "Can we sleep in your room tonight? We're scared if we close our eyes, everyone will disappear again."
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Nathan stood up, walking over to scoop both of his sons into his arms. For the first time in two years, he didn't tell them to be strong. He didn't tell them he was too busy. He held them tightly against his chest, feeling the steady, precious beat of their hearts.
"Nobody is disappearing, boys," Nathan whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "I'm right here. And tomorrow, we're going to bring Aunt Claire home."
