Chapter 4 - THE ADMINISTRATOR’S WARNING
The air in the family lounge seemed to drop ten degrees.
Ethan stood up slowly, placing himself between me and the two security guards. His jaw was clenched, his shoulders braced for a fight.
"I have every right to be here, Ms. Vance," Ethan said, his voice cold and steady. "That locket belonged to Serena’s family. And according to my father’s legal papers, your hospital has been covering up illegal maternity ward transfers for over twenty-five years."
Lillian didn't flinch. She didn't even look surprised.
She simply stepped further into the room, her designer heels clicking sharply against the floor.
"Mr. Carter, your father was a confused old man in his final days," Lillian said smoothly. "He spent thirty years working as the head accountant for Mercy General. He saw numbers, ledgers, and paperwork every day of his life. He imagined conspiracies where there were only standard administrative procedures."
"Standard procedures?" Ethan scoffed, stepping closer to her. "Is that what you call falsifying adoption records and funneling hospital grant money into private offshore accounts?"
Lillian’s expression hardened into a mask of pure ice.
She turned her gaze from Ethan to me.
"Dr. Brooks," Lillian said, her tone dripping with veiled condescension. "You are a brilliant physician. You have a very bright future ahead of you at this hospital. And more importantly, you have a baby due in two months. Do you really want to jeopardize your medical license, your career, and the safety of your child by involving yourself in ghost stories told by a bitter man?"
The threat was unmistakable.
She wasn't just warning us; she was cornering us.
"Are you threatening me, Ms. Vance?" I asked, standing up from the sofa. My seven-month pregnant belly made me feel slightly vulnerable, but my voice remained steady and clear.
"I am offering you career advice, Doctor," Lillian replied evenly. "Take your patient home in the morning. Forget about the locket. Forget about the archive files. Go back to your normal life."
Without waiting for an answer, Lillian turned on her heel and walked out of the lounge, her two security guards trailing closely behind her like obedient shadows.
The heavy glass door clicked shut, leaving Ethan and me alone once more.
Ethan sank back down onto the sofa, burying his face in his hands.
"She’s hiding something big, Serena," Ethan muttered, his voice muffled by his palms. "My father left me a key to a private locker in the basement of this hospital. He told me that if anything ever happened to him, I needed to find the file marked Project Genesis."
I stared at him, my heart pounding. "Project Genesis? Ethan, that’s the name of the hospital’s original endowment fund from the late nineties."
"It’s not an endowment fund," Ethan said, looking up at me with haunted eyes. "My father’s letter said it was a program that traded newborn infants from struggling mothers to wealthy hospital donors in exchange for multi-million-dollar wing expansions."
The room spun around me.
I looked down at the silver locket resting on the table, and the Polaroid of the woman holding a newborn infant on the steps of Mercy General.
"Ethan," I whispered, the terrifying realization dawning on me like a physical blow. "My mother gave birth to me here in October of 1998. She told me my father died before I was born. But she never talked about her medical records."
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Ethan stood up and grabbed my hands. His palms were warm, but his fingers were trembling.
"We need to get into that basement locker before Lillian Vance's security team destroys the files," he said urgently. "Tonight."
