Lily, her face still half-hidden, nodded. Just barely.
— “How?”
The single question hung in the air. Lily finally looked up at him, her eyes large and brimming with tears. They held a lifetime of pain—pain she had carried through six months of being ignored.
— “Because,” she whispered, so softly they had to hold their breath to hear, “it ate my daddy first.”
Lily’s words hung in the air, heavy and clear. “It ate my daddy first.”
Artie’s father didn’t look away. Everything he was, all his power and focus, was now centered on this fragile girl in a hand-me-down dress. Millions of dollars, influence, anger—it all faded before one simple, terrifying fact: this child knew the truth when seventeen world-class doctors were blind.
He slowly stood up. He looked at the jar in his hand, then at the chief of medicine. There was no question in his eyes anymore. Only a cold, iron command.
— “Seal this. Send it for immediate genetic and toxicological screening to three independent labs. Under my personal oversight. No one on your staff touches these results. Understood?”
The doctor, who had been the most powerful man in the building ten minutes ago, simply nodded. He was too stunned to argue.
— “And… the girl,” Artie’s father added, looking back at Lily. “Her story about her father. That’s the key. This wasn’t a random occurrence. This was…” He didn’t finish the sentence, but everyone knew what he meant. This looked like a crime.
He walked over to Sarah. She held Lily even tighter, bracing for an accusation or a reprimand.
— “Your name?” he asked gently.
— “Sarah,” she managed to say.
— “Sarah. Your daughter just saved my son’s life. She did it when everyone else failed.” He paused, choosing his words carefully. “I’m going to need your help. And hers. We need to find out what this is. We need to make sure this never happens to anyone else. Not to a rich man’s son, and not to…” He looked at Lily. “Not to anyone’s father.”
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