CHAPTER 4 — THE WOMAN WHO HAD PLANNED FOR EVERYTHING
CHAPTER 4 — THE WOMAN WHO HAD PLANNED FOR EVERYTHING
Grant stared at Nolan.
"That's impossible."
"So I thought."
Nolan opened a worn leather folder.
Inside lay copies of the Hawthorne Clause.
The activation request.
Electronic timestamps.
Hospital verification records.
Everything appeared legitimate.
Except one detail.
"The first authorization request," Nolan said quietly, "arrived at 1:41 a.m."
Grant frowned.
"Emma didn't even know she needed surgery then."
"Exactly."
"And she didn't call you until after two."
Grant's pulse accelerated.
"So who filed it?"
Nolan slowly slid another document across the table.
The request had been submitted...
Using Emma's secure digital signature.
Grant looked up.
"Someone forged it."
"Or someone had access."
At that exact moment...
Emma received an unexpected visitor.
An elderly woman wearing a navy coat entered without security announcing her.
Every nurse immediately stepped aside.
Even Dr. Rachel Monroe looked surprised.
"Eleanor?"
Emma blinked.
"Eleanor?"
The woman smiled gently.
"My name is Eleanor Hawthorne Mercer."
Emma's eyes widened.
"Grant told me your grandmother died years ago."
The woman chuckled.
"My funeral was excellent."
Emma stared speechlessly.
"I simply allowed the world to believe I had stepped away."
She looked down at baby Lily.
"I've been waiting to meet my great-granddaughter."
Emma could barely find her voice.
"But... everyone said..."
"They were supposed to."
Eleanor sat beside the bed.
"The fewer people who knew where I was..."
"...the longer I stayed alive."
Emma felt a chill.
"What do you mean?"
The elderly woman's warm smile disappeared.
"It means someone has been trying to steal this family for almost twenty years."
She gently touched Lily's tiny forehead.
"And now they've come for the next generation."
Emma whispered,
"Victor Lang."
Eleanor nodded.
"Victor is dangerous."
She paused.
"But he is not the mastermind."
Emma's heart pounded.
"Then who is?"
Eleanor looked directly into her eyes.
"The person sitting closest to you."
Before Emma could respond...
The hospital lights suddenly went out.
Emergency alarms exploded through the building.
Red backup lights flooded the hallway.
Then every infant-security bracelet in the maternity ward began flashing simultaneously.
A nurse screamed.
"The baby-monitoring system has been hacked!"
Another voice echoed from outside.
"Room 814!"
"Lily's tracker just disappeared!"
Emma's blood froze.
May you like
Her newborn daughter...
Had vanished.
