Daniel’s face lit up with a brilliant smile as he approached her. “Isabella, it’s incredible news! We’ve located a bone marrow match for Liam!”
For a heartbeat, Isabella stood frozen, the words not fully registering. A match meant hope. A real chance at survival. “Is it true? You’re positive?” Her voice trembled, a fragile mix of desperate hope and stunned disbelief.
Daniel nodded vigorously, his expression absolutely certain. “Without a doubt. It’s a perfect match. We can schedule the procedure immediately.”
“Sophia, I can’t thank you enough. I never would have landed this job at Aurora Design Collective without your influence,” Vanessa gushed, her voice dripping with sycophantic gratitude and false admiration.
Sophia, her patience wearing thin, was ready to cut the call short with a few dismissive words.
As Vanessa prattled on about her first day, Sophia only offered a bored, noncommittal hum in reply.
“It’s my first day, Sophia. And someone in my department took emergency leave… for a bone marrow donation,” Vanessa continued, her tone shifting, laced with a hint of something more, something secretive.
“Bone marrow? Hardly a significant event,” Sophia remarked, her voice bored and dismissive.
“But… Sophia, I… I happened to see the recipient’s name on the donor forms…” Vanessa’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper.
“And?” A cold dread began to prickle down Sophia’s spine. “What was the name?”
“It was… Liam Scott.”
“Liam?” Sophia shot upright, her entire body tensing.
The coincidence was staggering. The world felt impossibly small.
She seethed, thinking how fortune always seemed to favor Isabella. Forcing her voice into a deceptively soft tone, she asked, “Vanessa, are you completely certain? Isabella’s son, Liam?”
“Without question, Sophia. I saw the file myself! Liam Scott was clearly listed as the recipient. Diagnosis: acute lymphoblastic leukemia…”
Sophia nervously chewed on her lower lip.
She saw a fleeting, golden opportunity presenting itself.
If the boy were to die, even if Ethan later discovered the truth of his paternity, it would be a moot point.
Her position would be permanently secure.
“Excellent work, Vanessa. Arrange a meeting with this colleague of yours. Immediately.”
“Right away, Sophia!” Vanessa’s reply was eager, almost feverish with excitement.
A cold, satisfied smile curled Sophia’s lips as she ended the call.
Inside the hospital, the sterile, sharp scent of antiseptic hung heavily in the air.
Isabella held Liam’s small hand tightly, her own fingers icy cold.
Swamped in a child-sized hospital gown, Liam looked pale but managed a brave smile for his mother, his dimples faintly showing. “Mommy, I’m not scared.”
Isabella leaned down, pressing a tender kiss to his forehead. “I know, my love. You are the bravest boy.”
Despite finding a donor, a persistent, gnawing anxiety had taken root in Isabella’s chest. A deep, unsettling premonition that something was terribly wrong.
The medical team from Geneva had arrived. Daniel had reviewed the surgical plan repeatedly. Everything was proceeding on schedule. As a nurse came to draw more blood, Isabella stayed close, her watchful eyes never leaving her son.