Chapter 2 - Unmasking the Doctor
I stood near the open doorway of the boys' room, watching Jacob and Jonah sleep fitfully. Their skin was pale, translucent enough to see the blue veins underneath, and dark circles bruised their eyes. I sat on the edge of Jacob's bed, gently wiping his forehead with a cool, damp cloth. He stirred, opening his heavy eyelids just enough to see me.
"Are you the new lady?" he murmured, his voice barely a rasp.
"I am," I said softly, smoothing his messy brown hair. "My name is Emily. I'm going to take care of you and Jonah."
"Is Dr. Reeves going to give us the sticky juice again?" Jonah asked from the adjacent bed, his small voice trembling. "It makes my tummy burn."
My heart stopped. "Sticky juice?" I asked gently, leaning toward Jonah. "What sticky juice, sweetheart?"
"The medicine from the silver spoon," Jonah whimpered. "Every night before bed. He says it helps us grow big and strong, but it tastes like old copper."
Downstairs, a loud crash echoed through the mansion, followed by the sound of glass shattering and a man screaming in terror.
I kept my calm for the children, singing a soft lullaby until their eyes drifted closed again. Once I was sure they were resting, I instructed one of Nathan's trusted house guards stationed outside the door to keep his eyes locked on the room, and I crept down the hallway toward the study.
The door to Nathan’s office was partially ajar. Inside, Dr. Reeves was pinned against the floor, Nathan’s heavy boot planted firmly on his chest. The doctor’s tailored suit was torn, his costly spectacles shattered on the Persian rug. Vince stood by the door, holding a specialized containment box carrying the black atomizer device retrieved from the ductwork.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Nathan! I swear to God!" Reeves sobbed, blood trickling from his nose. "I’m a physician! I’ve dedicated my life to saving people!"
"You were giving them a secondary oral dose," I said, stepping into the room.
Both men turned to look at me. Dr. Reeves’ eyes bulged with hatred.
"The boys just told me about the 'sticky juice' you administer every evening," I continued, holding up the medical file from the desk. "I looked at your prescribed treatment logs. You listed it as a specialized vitamin suspension. But organophosphate toxicity requires a fat-soluble carrier to stay latent in the body without causing immediate respiratory failure. You were spraying the airborne toxin through the vents to weaken their lungs, and feeding them the binder every evening to make sure their bodies couldn't flush it out."
Nathan looked down at Reeves, his eyes cold enough to freeze blood. He leaned in close, putting his full weight onto the doctor’s ribs. A sickening crack echoed in the room, and Reeves let out a blood-curdling shriek.
"Who paid you?" Nathan whispered. "Tell me, or I will hand you over to Vince. And Vince doesn't use medical tools."
"It wasn't... it wasn't personal!" Reeves gasped, struggling for air. "They had photos of my daughter! They knew where she went to school in London! If I didn't do it, they were going to send her back to me in pieces!"
"Who?" Nathan barked, grabbing Reeves by the throat and lifting him off the floor with one arm.
"The... the Syndicate," Reeves choked out, his face turning purple. "The board members... they said you were becoming soft. They said your late wife made you weak, and they wanted you broken completely so you'd hand over the shipping docks in New York without a fight. They told me to make it look like an untraceable auto-immune degradation!"
Nathan dropped the doctor like a bag of wet laundry. He stood tall, adjusting his cuffs, his breathing heavy.
"Vince," Nathan said coldly. "Take him to the basement. Keep him alive until we confirm his story. If his daughter is in danger, send a team to London to pull her out. I want no collateral damage—but Reeves pays for every tear my sons shed."
Vince dragged the weeping doctor out of the room. Nathan stood alone amidst the ruined paperwork, staring at the wall. The magnitude of the betrayal was staggering. The men he had built an empire with, the partners he had trusted to run his legal enterprises, had spent months torturing his innocent children just to force him into surrender.
He turned to me, his stance softening slightly. "You saved their lives tonight, Emily. If you hadn't noticed that vent..."
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"They aren't out of the woods yet," I interrupted softly. "Their organs have been absorbing these toxins for months. We need a targeted chelation therapy and a clean environment immediately. And more than that, Nathan... whoever organized this knows Dr. Reeves was supposed to finish the job soon. When Reeves doesn't report back, they will realize you know."
Nathan’s jaw tightened. "Then let them realize it. They wanted a war with a desperate father. Now they’re going to get one with a monster."
