Chapter 2
I sat at my desk the entire night.
The acquisition plan in front of me was detailed: Cleveland Medical Center, valued at three hundred million, to be acquired in installments, with a 60% stake.
The signature at the bottom was his–Byron.
All night, I worked like a machine, sorting through the evidence.
The supplier price increase notices kept piling up: CT machine maintenance fees up by 80%. The price of heart stents tripled. Import drug channels blocked, now going through expensive agents.
The emails for these new suppliers all
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pointed to subsidiaries of the Roffe Group.
My phone rang.
“Ms. Cohen, I’d like to submit my resignation.” It was Mr. Horton, the most senior surgeon in cardiac surgery.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Mayo Clinic offered a great deal… I’m sorry.”
After hanging up, the head nurse walked in. “Ms. Cohen, Mrs. Parham is here again to complain. She says your attitude was awful.” “Mrs. Parham? The one who had a successful surgery the day before yesterday?” “Yes, her family is threatening to report you to the State Health Departments.”
A message from my father popped up: “Why are there so many medical accidents
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lately?” “Three surgeries last month, all with post–operative infections.” “If this continues, the hospital won’t last.”
I opened the research database, my fingers froze on the keyboard.
The screen flashed: “ERROR 404 – Database not found.”
Five years of work, gone in an instant.
The secretary suddenly burst in: “Ms. Cohen, you need to see the news!”
The phone screen displayed a breaking headline:
“Breakthrough Heart Valve Surgery, the Roffe Group Announces Patent”
“Three Years of Research, the Roffe Group to
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Dominate the Market”
“Projected Annual Revenue: One Billion”
My hands started to shake.
Wasn’t this our research?
The project my father had spent five years
- on.
My phone vibrated on the desk.
An anonymous message with two screenshots:
“Has the director’s daughter been dealt with?”
“Don’t worry, we’ve been married for three months now. She always follows my every word.”
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“What about the patent?”
“It’s in progress. Legal said we’ll have it next week.”
“And the hospital acquisition?”
“It’s almost done. Just need a little more pressure, that old director will have to give in.”
Tears dropped one by one onto my phone
screen.
Another message came through:
“By the way, have the PR department keep an eye on Ms. Cohen. Her attitude’s been terrible lately, get more complaints filed.”
“Don’t worry, the people I’ve assigned will be
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watching her closely.”
“We need the old director to see that even his daughter can’t manage the hospital.”
So that’s how it is.
All the chaos fell into place, a single thread tying everything together.
I was just a pawn in his carefully laid plan.
The sky outside brightened.
I stared at Cleveland Medical Center bathed in the morning light.
My father had poured his entire life into this.
And now, it was all on the verge of
collapsing.
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1–somehow–had become an accomplice.
My phone buzzed again.
A reminder for the morning meeting.
I was supposed to have breakfast with him.
I looked at myself in the mirror.
Pale face, red eyes.
How was I supposed to face him with a straight face?
How could I quietly protect my father?
The elevator dinged.
His graceful figure appeared in the doorway.
“Darling, you don’t look so well today.”
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Chapter 2
I looked up, meeting the eyes of the man I’d shared a bed with for three months.
His smile still as gentle as ever.
That gentle smile… was also part of the plan.
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